Burning Brightly
by Obsessive Child
Summary: He only meant to live here in case something went wrong. He didn't mean to accidentally stumble across the Titans and get sucked into their world, especially when Danny Phantom was very much dead and Danny Fenton had so little to offer.
1. Decide

A/n: Wherein I recently retrieved some of my childhood and I wanted to see a DP/Teen Titans crossover where Danny doesn't actually experience a huge personality warp. Despite this first chapter, Danny won't be overly angsty or anything this fic (hopefully). Nothing against Badass!Danny's, but I like my awkward wise-cracking kid.

* * *

**_Prologue_**

Danny stared blankly at the white hospital ceiling, the events of _that_ day running through his head over and over again. He had been doing so ever since he had awoken, and to be quite honest, sometimes he wished he hadn't waked.

His tears had long since run dry, and he couldn't cry even if he wanted to.

This was worse than a nightmare, because there was no relief when his mother shook him awake, cooing at him that it was all going to be okay. There was no father promising to hunt down the monsters should they hurt Danny again. And there were no friends who would laugh at Danny and tell him that he was being silly.

No, the only people who could chase away the fear and hurt were gone, and it was _all his fault_.

He couldn't even blame the fruitloop for this one.

Danny felt a laugh bubble up in his throat, and he knew it would come out sounding insane. He didn't care though. Nothing mattered now. His friends and family were gone, and he was left all alone, dealing with this pain.

The black haired boy squeezed his eyes shut, fists clenching. He just wanted an end to all of this, an end to all of this hurt.

A few harsh gasps escaped him, slightly relieving the compression of his chest. Every minute since he had awakened he had felt as if his heart was squeezed as tightly as the ghosts he pushed into the thermos, and his heart wasn't dealing with it very well. He couldn't deal with this.

All around him he heard the clattering of heels and murmuring of voices that signaled the nurses running past. That told him that he was not alone, and that he was surrounded by people. But nevertheless, Danny felt lonely.

He was isolated and set apart, different because of what he was and what he had experienced. How could anyone else ever hope to understand? The nurses certainly couldn't.

Oh sure they'd try, and Danny couldn't fault them for that. It was their job, after all. But the thought still filled him with bitterness. What right did they have to pretend that they understood when they really, really didn't? Sure people lost family all the time, but did they ever lose all of the people who cared about them at the exact same time, and _know_ that it was their fault?

No, nobody would ever understand, and that was why there would always be a chasm between Danny and the rest of the world.

The only person who could even hope to understand him was Vlad, the one who had lost the love of his life and his best friend in the very explosion which cost Danny everything. But even then, Vlad couldn't know the full extent of what Danny was going through.

Still, a small percentage of understanding was better than none.

And yet, Danny couldn't go to Vlad. Oh he desperately wanted to, but he couldn't. Not when he knew what the future would end up like if he went to his old nemesis's house.

To be completely honest, Danny couldn't care one whit about the future right now. Truthfully, he could not bring himself to fear the future, not when the present was blocking out all his thoughts with the agony it was bringing him.

He didn't care that a Dan Phantom would try to control the world, brining in untold havoc as he did so. He didn't care that such a hell would be created if he was weak right now and decided that he couldn't handle it all. He didn't care, because caring meant making the right choice, and Danny was much too weak right now to make the right choice.

It took nearly all of his will not to go running to Vlad's right now, pleading with the man to make the machine that would separate his ghost self with his human self. Despite knowing how that would end, Danny still wanted it. He wanted it badly.

He just wanted the pain to go away.

There was however, one thing that stopped him.

_"I won't turn into that, ever! I promise."_

The promise to his family. His final promise.

He couldn't betray that. Couldn't betray them like that.

They had died thinking that he would save the world, and he couldn't trounce on their expectations like that. Doing that would make their deaths seems useless, pointless. He couldn't deal with that. At the very least, at the very least… if they had to die, let it be for a higher cause.

No, he would not go to Vlad's, no matter how much his soul screamed at him to, because he had promised his family so.

Danny let out a breath, his eyes flickering open again. The ghost white ceiling stared back at him blankly.

He wouldn't go to Vlad's, and he wouldn't use his ghost powers again. The risk of his corruption was too great. Gifted? Who was he kidding? He had been lured by the promise of power, and he had almost fallen into the honey-filled trap. It had taken an interdimensional being and the loss of those most important to him to show him that.

Amity Park would be fine without him. He would destroy the ghost portal before he left, and then there was always Val. She could take care of any ghost stragglers.

And he would leave. Because it was too dangerous to stay. Because it was too painful to stay.

The question was, where could he go?

He glanced at the pile of magazines on his bedside, wondering if they had any travel plans panned out. And then, something caught his eye.

It was a coloured cover of five teenagers in fighting poses, with an ugly looking white monster reaching its claws out towards the reader. The caption read 'The Teen Titans do it again, chameleon fiend stands no chance!'

Danny sat up, his eyes picking up a little bit of their shine for the first time since that terrible day. He reached out and grabbed the magazine, clutching it like it was his lifeline. And in a way, it was.

It was offering him a way out.

He had heard of the Teen Titans of course. Who hadn't? They were a group of five superheroes who kept their city in order. When Danny had first gotten his ghost powers, he had hoped to be like them.

His lips curled into a bitter smile at that thought. Him, a Teen Titan. That was a dream that had cost him everything. His delusions of grandeur and heroism had created the disastrous situations in his hometown, and now had taken the life of his family and friends. He was no hero; he was nothing more than a phony. But the Teen Titans, they were the real thing.

The Teen Titans were real heroes, who had the power to do what was necessary and had the will not to be corrupted. The Teen Titans could stop him if he ever went insane.

Yes, Danny would go to Jump City, and try to have a normal life there.

And if he ever became that despicable future self of his, then the Teen Titans would be there to kill him.

* * *

Vladimir Masters was what most would call a successful man.

He was rich, he was respected, and he was not bad looking if he did say so himself. He was an intelligent scientist and a shrewd businessman, which along with his 'special status', was probably what earned him his billionaire position. He was still young enough to attract a fair amount of giggles, and the only reason he wasn't married was because he didn't want to be. To an outsider looking in, Vlad had everything.

But in reality, Vlad had nothing.

Nothing that he really wanted, anyway.

Everything that he had earned, all the wealth that he had accumulated, all of that had just for one purpose. To impress Maddie.

To show Maddie what a fool she had been for choosing that orange wearing idiot over him, and to show her how much of a fool Jack was for not being able to do the things Vlad was able to do. To convince Maddie that it was really him that she wanted, and not Jack.

Vlad clicked off the power with his remote, squeezing his eyes shut just as the TV blinked off. He had been watching the news report on the Nasty Burger Explosion for the eleventh time, and still it didn't make it any easier.

The imported foamy sofa he was sitting on, the big screen plasma TV that covered his entire wall, the diamond chandeliers which were the only source of light for the room… none of that mattered.

Maddie was gone.

Vlad slumped against his imported sofa, his arm resting listlessly at his side. He felt dead, lifeless, and it had nothing to do with his status as a half ghost.

He was beyond pain now. That had passed the second time he had heard the news, after he had demanded that the TV station replay it. They did of course, because he was Vlad Masters, and nobody disobeyed Vlad Masters.

The pain he had felt then was gut wrenching, hurting more than anything any ghost had ever done to him, even trumping the time that Jack Fenton had stolen the love of his life. The pain had made him want to scream, and then keep screaming until he went insane. He wouldn't have minded, if it would ease the pain a little.

And yet, he preferred that pain to the emptiness that he was feeling now.

Vlad closed his eyes. He could not even cry. The tears had all gone.

He had nothing left.

He had fame and fortune, but no one to share it with. And truthfully, what was the point of having gathered all that he had if he could not gift it to anybody? What could he do with the money? Buy the Packers?

The billionaire chuckled bitterly. But of course, he could not buy the Packers. They would not be bought.

A sudden feeling of anger ripping through him, Vlad hurled the remote to the far side of the room, just wanting to take out his frustration on something. He had nothing! Absolutely nothing! How was this in any way fair?!

There was a quiet 'click' as the remote hit the far side of the room, and slid down the wall. The television blinked on.

Vlad growled in frustration. Wonderful, now even the remote was working against him. All he wanted was some quiet and—

"—young Daniel Fenton seems to have disappeared after the tragic explosion which took his family and two of his schoolmates. After awakening from the hospital three days after the Nasty Burger Explosion, fourteen year old Daniel Fenton seemingly jumped out of a window and ran away. We do not think that young Daniel is hurt at the moment, but he has just gone through a very tragic event and needs both medical and emotional attention. Good citizens of Amity Park, if you see young Daniel Fenton, please contact us at the number…"

Vlad sat up, his anger dissipating as he watched the reporter on the screen with wide eyes. Disbelief clouded his face. What?! Daniel was missing?

Daniel…

Vlad straightened, his blue eyes sparkling. That's right, he hadn't lost everything. The Packers may never be his, and Maddie may be gone, but there was still young Daniel to be considered.

Young Daniel, who must be feeling lost and confused now that his whole foundation had been ripped out from under him. Young Daniel, who was a half ghost like Vlad and therefore, would never be able to fit in with the others. Young Daniel, who had possibly lost more than Vlad did in that explosion.

Young Daniel, who needed a family as much as Vlad did. Surely, Daniel couldn't refuse now? After all, Jack was gone. If there was one good thing about that explosion, that would be it.

Daniel Masters. Vlad liked the sound of that.

He had a new purpose in life, now. He felt his hard as iron determination come back to him, his steely confidence and equally strong mind reaffixing themselves once more. Vladmir Masters was back, and this time, he would not leave.

He would have young Daniel as a son. By any means necessary.


	2. Jump

**_Jump_**

Escaping the hospital was ridiculously easy.

A request to go to the bathroom there, an innocent answer of 'I'm lost' here, and he was out within minutes.

Immediately after getting out of the hospital, Danny proceeded to his house, making sure to keep out of the line of sight. He might have been a nobody before, but the explosion had splattered his face all over the news, and he was sure that even the most reclusive of Amity Park would recognize him now.

The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth. It took the death of his closest family and friends for the public to sympathize with him. How pathetic.

He knew it wasn't a fair thought, and that Sam would have scolded him severely for it, but at the moment he couldn't bring himself to care. He thought he deserved to have his moment of misplaced blame, right?

Danny's journey to his house was relatively quiet. He had learned all the nooks and crannies of Amity from his ghost hunting days, when he had to quickly find places to change into his more powerful form. Now, that knowledge was serving him to evade just about everybody else.

Making sure that nobody was looking that way at the time, Danny scurried to the front door of his house and bent down. He flipped up the mat, revealing the small, silver house key underneath. He quickly opened the door and slipped inside before anyone could see him.

The scent of the house was overwhelming.

Danny staggered, tears coming to his eyes as the homely smell of Fenton Works hit his nostrils. He had never appreciated his mother's bad cooking and his father's sawdust before, but what he wouldn't give now to have that all back.

A hand rose to his mouth, barely holding back a sob, as Danny sank to the floor and started rocking. The tears flooded through, along with the gurgled words of apology. Danny stayed on the floor with his back pressed against the door for who knows how long, until the tears stopped coming and he was out of the energy he had regained from resting in the hospital. He stayed like that until he was sure that the shock of seeing his home again had left him.

Shakily Danny stood up, not even bothering to wipe the tears from his eyes. They'd dry on their own.

Robotically he moved about the house, doing what he had been planning to do ever since he had decided to move to Jump City. He did it mechanically, shutting off all his emotion. He didn't think he could survive another look within his house if he had them. The memories would overwhelm him, and then he didn't think he would be able to resist going to Vlad's.

Trying to avoid the other rooms, Danny climbed up the stairs to his own. He dug out a large duffle bag from deep within his closet, and then proceeded to dump his clothes and other bathroom items into it.

Then, hesitantly, he went back downstairs. He walked slowly to the kitchen, instantly spotting the third drawer on the right despite the fact that it looked like any other drawer in the world. When Mum had first showed him the place, Danny had made a special note of it, but Jazz had made sure that he didn't misappropriate the contents.

He walked over to the drawer, and pulled it out. He dumped everything out, barely hearing the clang as the steel kitchen utilities hit the counter. Licking his lips, Danny set the drawer back down and yanked out the false bottom.

Within the compartment were squares of twenty dollar bills.

Mum and Dad were prepared for anything, including a ghost attack on a bank that would render them unable to access all their savings. So, they stored ten thousand dollars in their kitchen, as a 'just in case'.

Danny took a breath, feeling as if he was stealing from them, but nonetheless took the money. He needed it to keep the rest of the world safe.

His packing done, Danny knew that there was one last thing to do.

He went to the basement.

The ghost hunting tools littered the walls, and for a moment Danny hesitated, debating whether he should take any or not. On one hand, on the off chance that a ghost found him and engaged him in battle because of who he had been was, as much as Danny hated to admit it, a distinct possibility. Since he had vowed to never use his ghost powers again, the Fenton weapons would be the only way to defend himself and whoever else might be in the area. On the other hand, taking a weapon would be like admitting that he'd never be free of ghosts, even when he so desperately wanted to be.

In the end his worry for another's safety in the case of a ghost attack won out. Danny took the thermos and an ecto-gun. He didn't take more. It wasn't like he was _expecting_ a ghost attack, so there was no point in bringing the whole arsenal.

Now there was only one last thing.

He turned to the portal.

Ultimately, the ghost portal was what had been the cause of all this misery. The unnatural gate had been what had brought all the ghosts into this world, and it had been what created Danny Phantom. The only reason Danny hadn't destroyed it earlier was because he knew his parents would just rebuild it. Now though, his parents weren't around…

Hating himself for having that thought, but not able to help having that thought nonetheless, Danny searched for a hatchet. He found one easily enough.

The fifteen year old yanked the hatchet from its place on the wall, and walked towards the portal. He took a breath, and then slammed the tool down on the consol.

Sparks flew everywhere, but Danny ignored that as he continued pounding away at the portal's controls with the steely weapon. Finally, the portal spluttered and died, and for the first time since he had stepped inside this house, Danny smiled.

He walked inside the large contraption, mind flashing back to the first time he had done so and had accidently turned it on, forever cursing him with the powers of the undead. Now though, he was a little less clueless.

Danny proceeded to rip apart the portal from the inside out, yanking out the wires and switches. He made it completely unusable.

Now, no ghosts were going to get through, and the ones who did through natural portals would be taken care of by Valarie.

His deed done, Danny finally felt at ease leaving Amity Park.

He went out the same way he came in, ducking into alleyways and street sides. Danny wasn't sure how long he walked, but he knew he had to get away from Amity Park before he could show his face.

By the end of his journey he was sore and tired, his clothes worse for wear and dirt all over his body. But he was finally out of town. He immediately headed for a train station to purchase a ticket.

Danny drew a couple of weird looks, but he had the money, and when he went to buy the tickets, nobody could object. The seller of the tickets though, seemed to think a little differently.

"Look son," the booth man said kindly, "you don't have to do this. I know it might not seem like it right now, but your parents do love you."

Danny stared at the man selling the tickets dumbly for one whole minute, not exactly sure what he was hearing. How could the man possibly know…? And then he realized that the booth man _didn't_ know.

The booth man thought he was a runaway.

All in all, it was not an unreasonable guess. After all, Danny's unkempt appearance and his large duffle bag did seem to indicate that he was in a hurry to get away. Added to that his age, and of course the booth man would think that he was a runaway.

Danny just shook his head sadly, too tired to explain the real situation even though it would undoubtedly make the booth man feel better. "May I please just have a ticket, sir?"

Sighing, the booth man did as Danny asked.

The next few days were a series of bus and train rides. He didn't know the streets well enough to hire a taxi.

Nobody seemed to recognize him, partially because of the cap he always wore to hide his face, and partially because outside of Amity Park, his story wasn't actually that unique. Tragedies like that were dime a dozen apparently.

By the time that it was noted that Danny Fenton had disappeared and a state-wide manhunt was created for him, Danny was already out of Illinois. He hadn't rested a day, even eating his meals on buses.

His arrival in Jump City was not very dramatic. But then, he hadn't wanted it to be dramatic.

He had just hopped off the bus one day, duffle bag in hand, and there he was, in Jump.

It would be his new home.

And now that he had gotten here, Danny wasn't sure what to do. He'd always been a lazy kid, and it was always Mum or Jazz who took care of the legalities. He had no idea how to go about getting a house.

Or if there was even a house in Jump City.

Looking around, all Danny could see was rows upon rows of apartment buildings. Perhaps a big city like Jump had no room for houses? He had watched quite a few TV series that were like that.

So then, he'd have to rent an apartment. Right.

Danny wandered around the city, occasionally stopping somebody and self-consciously asking for directions. There seemed to be only two responses to him. Either a look of disgust at his less than stellar state of dress and a hurried response that the person in question was busy at the moment, or a look of pity and a long explanation as well as hints that there was somebody out there that loved him.

The blue eyed boy wasn't sure he liked either of those responses. In fact, he was pretty darn sure he hated them.

But they got him where he wanted to go. He'd found some apartments that were for rent. One of the apartment managers was even taking interviews today.

Hardly able to believe his luck, Danny followed the instructions of a thirty year old lady he had stopped and found himself in front of an old office door. He knocked.

"Come in," a thin weedy voice sounded from within, and Danny pushed open the door. It was a typical office, reminiscent of Spectra's place, as it only really had a table and two chairs. Danny shivered slightly. Well, at least there were no pictures of high school children with a forty year old woman draping an arm over them. That had just been creepy, and cougar-ish.

The man sitting at the desk was a mousy haired forty year old in a tweed business suit. His eyes widened upon seeing Danny. The man's head tilted upwards, looking past Danny's shoulder.

"Um," Danny said, realizing what the man was looking for. "My parents aren't coming."

"Oh?" The man looked back at Danny, his expression confused.

"I'm um, the one looking for an apartment."

The man's attention turned back on Danny, brown eyes accessing every inch of the boy. Danny squirmed slightly, not sure he liked the attention.

"You do realize," the man said slowly, "that it's illegal for someone under the age of eighteen to be off by themselves, don't you?"

"Oh really?" Danny squeaked, and then coughed. He laughed nervously, taking the seat across from the apartment manager. "That's… I mean, what does that have to do with me? I'm here with my parents. I just meant… they asked me to go find an apartment for them. Yeah, that's it."

That… was a horrible explanation. There was no way the apartment manager would buy it.

And for once, Danny's evaluation of someone's intelligence levels was dead on.

The man narrowed his eyes, "How old did you say you were again?"

Danny didn't have to have Jazz's brains to see where this was going. "I'm uh, fifteen."

"Mmhmm," the man hummed, then folded his hands across the table with a sigh, "look kid, I'm going to tell you right out that you look suspicious. I don't know what your story is, but if you were beaten or anything, you know that it's not your fault, right? The authorities can help you and—"

"You've got it all wrong!" Danny interrupted heatedly, slamming his hands down on the desk as he jumped up from his seat, feeling too offended to keep sitting. "My parents would never—! They're not the kind that would—!"

He actually couldn't continue. He was too offended to.

Mum and Dad had been nothing but loving towards him, and he was the one who had thrown all that back into their faces. How dare the man suggest…!

The apartment manager just gazed at Danny steadily, "I'm not saying that they did. I'm just saying '_if'_."

"My parents just had other plans for today, and that is all." Danny replied stiffly, hating the fact that he had to use his parents in his lie but not seeing any other alternative. "I think I'll be going now. I'll tell them that you're not interested in selling."

Without saying another word, Danny stalked out of the office.

The man didn't try to follow him, but then, why would he? The apartment manager was just giving his two cents in hopes of helping somebody in the world, but like most other people, was too lazy to go all the way. Half-hearted help was the most the majority of people would ever give.

Danny turned down a corridor and walked back out into the afternoon sun. The half ghost leaned against the side of the building, taking a deep breath.

The visit had shaken him.

It was then that Danny realized that he would get nowhere with this apartment, and with any nice apartments, for that matter. They'd take one look at him and realize that he was a teenager, and had no business renting out a place to live without any guardians. He'd been lucky so far that nobody had called the cops.

No go. That didn't mean he would give up, though. Danny was determined to live in Jump City.

Danny pushed himself off the wall. There was only one option left to him if he still wanted a decent place to live.

He would have to go to the seedier part of the city. They wouldn't question him as long as he had the money, and boy did he have money. He'd seen enough TV shows about that.

With a nod to himself, Danny looked around for places that looked dirtier. He hadn't really considered that he would live in the dumps, but Danny thought that he could handle it.

Months of honed observation from ghost fighting quickly picked out the most damaged looking part of town. With a slight smile on his face, Danny started walking towards that direction.

The place really was rotten, but it was no Gotham City, and for that Danny was grateful. Without access to his ghost powers (and he _would_ never use them again), Danny was pretty much a sitting duck for anyone having a bad day. He really didn't want to go through Dash all over again.

It was getting dark out now, and Danny more than anything wanted to get off the streets. He'd seen enough procedurals about serial killers to be just a little bit worried. This wasn't Amity, where everybody knew everybody.

It didn't even cross his mind that the Teen Titans would stop that type of thing.

After all, Danny had never stopped any killers during his brief stint as a superhero, so focused on ghosts was he, so why would the Titans search for criminals outside of their supervillian jurisdiction? There was still a police force in Jump City for a reason.

Just when he was contemplating giving up for the day and crashing at a motel, a voice caught his attention.

"Hey, you!" A man in a barf coloured shirt and dull yellow pants waved over.

Danny looked around. Other than himself, there was only a thirty year old lady on the streets, and that lady was on the other side. So, the man had to be talking to him. Danny nodded back.

The man grinned, and cupped his hands over his mouth, "I heard that you're looking for a place to live. I love to help newbies, and I know just the place. You interested?"

The lady glanced over at the man sharply, but Danny hardly noticed. He was stunned. He couldn't believe his luck.

Grinning ear to ear, Danny skipped over to the man, who was actually a fair distance away. "You have an apartment for me?"

"Yeah," the man said, lighting up a cigar, "it's not bad. Only two thousand dollars a month. Real cheap."

Danny blanched, "That's cheap?"

The man shrugged, "With Jump City it is. Do you realize how much house insurance Jump has? With all those supervillians that the Teen Titans are constantly taking out and the homes that go down with them, it's become real expensive to live here. A regular apartment in Jump probably has a rent of about eight thousand."

"Oh." Danny said weakly. He wasn't good at math, but even he could tell that the price was overly inflated. He didn't realize that there were downsides to having a superhero. Briefly he wondered if he too had created such a situation in Amity.

"So anyway," the man said, eyeing Danny's duffle bag, "you interested?"

Danny nodded enthusiastically.

The man smiled, and turned to leave, gesturing for Danny to follow him. Danny did so.

"You said you pay in cash only?" The man asked as they went down yet another twist in the streets. "Or at least, that's what I heard from my associates who overheard you talking to one of the landowners."

"Yes…" Danny replied warily, eyeing the surroundings. His initial elation at finally finding an apartment had worn off, and now he couldn't help but get some heeby jeebies from the situation. They were in a deserted street now, and deserted never meant good.

The man suddenly paused, and spun around, almost causing Danny to crash into him. It was only Danny's last minute reflexes that stopped him from doing exactly that.

The man held out a hand, only the last rays of sunshine and the night lights illuminating him. "Well, can I see it? Your money I mean. You have to admit that you'd be a little skeptical too if you heard that a fifteen year old had two thousand dollars on hand."

Danny had a bad feeling about this, but on the surface couldn't see anything wrong with the request. The man was right after all. For all he knew, Danny could have created really clever forgeries.

He ruffled around in his bag.

"Right, two thousand dollars," he muttered, flipping through his bills.

Big mistake.

"You have _more_ than two thousand dollars? Holy shit kid, that's gotta be ten grand in there!"

Danny glanced up, and slowly put the money back into his bag before zipping it back up. The man's eyes were practically popping out of his face, and not in the good way either. They were glinting too much like Skulker's did during the hunt, and Danny wasn't sure he liked that.

Danny backed away, "Heh, maybe we'll discuss this deal in the morning. I'm kinda tired right now and—"

The man made a grab for Danny's wrist, but Danny had seen that coming. He lurched backwards, taking three light steps away from the man. He made to run, but the man's next words stopped him in his tracks.

"Guys!" The man called out, "you can come out now!"

Four dark figures emerged from the shadows, all grinning much too much like the ghosts he had regularly fought. Danny felt his breath quicken; this was exactly the type of scenario he wanted to avoid!

"Ten grand," one whistled, "that's a lot."

"Makes ya wonder how a kid can get his hands on that much," another commented. "Why can we never get that lucky?"

"Horatio, good job on picking up this one. You've really hit the jackpot."

"Can we just get on with this? I want my share."

Danny's grip on his bag tightened, his blue eyes scanning for any cracks in the formation of men.

Horatio, the man who had pretended to be an apartment manager, seemed to notice his desperate attempt to escape. "You know, there's five of us, and only one of you. And you're a rather scrawny little thing too."

Danny tensed, his eyes never stopping from their frantic search. "Your point?"

Horatio grinned, and it wasn't a nice grin. "You have a lot of money for a kid. Are you sure you know how to spend it responsibly?"

Danny finally stopping his search for an escape route to roll his eyes. What was it with bad guys and their failed attempts at being witty? "I have more responsibly than you, anyhow. I'll actually buy some clothes that won't blind everyone I come across, for one. Then again, maybe that's the point of your clothes? Blind them so they don't have to look at your face?"

The guy's eyes narrowed.

Danny's eyes widened.

Uh-oh, he hadn't meant to say that.

He was so used to fighting with the bad guys that a snappy remark seemed like the most natural thing. Unfortunately, these weren't the type of bad guys he could just suck into a thermos and laugh with his friends about how pathetic they were.

"That's it!" The man snarled, "I don't know what they teach you in the stinking town you come from, but here you've gotta show respect to the right people, or else you might just find yourself in a ditch. Boy, I'm going to teach you a lesson!"

"My town is not stinking!" Danny snapped back, all previous thoughts of self preservation disappearing in the light of the man's insult. How dare he diss the place of Danny's family and friends?! "Though perhaps you wouldn't be able to tell because your sense of smell has already been destroyed by your own filth!"

Horatio roared, and leapt at him.

Danny dropped the bag, arching his back sideways to avoid a sloppy punch from the man. The blue eyed boy followed up by grabbing the man's forearm, and twisting so that the hand was at the front of his neck rather than the back. Letting out a small noise of exertion, Danny used the man's momentum and flung Horatio over his shoulder. Horatio hit the pavement back first with a loud _crack_.

Danny just stood there for a moment, panting. And then he straightened, and whistled.

He was a little impressed despite himself. He hadn't known he could do that. Who knew ghost fighting experience crossed over to real life too?

The other four men glanced at each other.

"So," one said, looking back at Danny, "you've actually got some skills as well as a quick mouth."

Horatio groaned, and rolled away from Danny. Danny didn't dare stop him, knowing that if he did, all his chances at negotiation would be gone.

"So, since I'm so impressive, can you let me go?" Danny chanced, not taking his eyes off Horatio.

The man who had spoken previously, Man #2, laughed. "I wish, kid. I like your spunk. But the thing is, you've got quite a lot of money. If you don't give it to us willingly, then we'll have to take it forcibly."

Danny clenched and unclenched his fists. On one hand, without his ghost powers he might as well be a sitting duck to these people, and he wouldn't use his ghost powers again, no matter how tempting it was.

On the other hand… well, he really, really hated to give up just like that. And with his newfound martial arts prowess, who knew? Maybe he _could_ defeat these guys.

Danny briefly closed his eyes and then nodded. Then, without warning, he lunged towards Horatio, who had just stumbled to his feet. His punch connected with Horatio's nose, sending a spray of blood to Danny's face. Horatio cried out, falling again to the ground.

The other four cried in outrage, and closed in on Danny.

Man #3 ran toward Danny with a roar, a step ahead of all the others. Danny sidestepped, snatching Man #3's left hand with his right as the man ran past and pulling the man close to him. He slid his left arm up to the crook of the man's neck, and banged the man's head hard with his left hand. The man crumbled like a sack of potatoes.

Danny instantly pulled away from the man, whirling like a dancer. He felt the adrenaline pump through him, sharpening his senses and sending a tingling feeling all through his body.

For once, he could actually see the joys of fighting and not just the fear and the anger.

Man #4 and #5 seemed to have learned from their predecessors and dived at him at the same time. Danny had a way to deal with that too, unfortunately for them.

He pushed off the hard pavement and leapt up, going higher than any average human due to his years of karate from his mother and months of fighting experience. He landed on Man #4's shoulder, and promptly used his head as a support for his hands before spinning out a kick in Man #5's direction. Man #5 went down as Danny's shoe connected with the side of his head with a force that was nearly unheard of in a teenager.

Man #4 didn't waste any time however. As soon as the initial shock of Danny's landing was over, Man #4 pushed his arms up. As soon as Danny saw Man #5 go down, he felt two sweaty hands close around his arms.

And then, Man #4 yanked Danny's arms forwards, displacing Danny momentarily and making the boy give a loud cry of pain.

Gravity had its say and Danny was soon right side up again, with his wrists twisted in a awkward position. Man #4 was much taller than him, and Danny's legs were left dangling as Man #4 held him aloft with his arms.

"You're gonna pay for that," Man #4 growled.

"For the last time," Danny gasped out. "Get your own money!"

He kicked upwards, at the point between the legs. It was a cheap shot, but hey, he was a teenager against five full grown men. He thought he could be cut some slack.

Man #4 let out a cry, momentarily releasing Danny's wrists due to his surprise.

Danny didn't waste the movement. He landed in a crouch, and swept out his leg. Still in pain due to being hit in the most sensitive area for men, Man #4 stood no chance. Man #4's legs followed the control of Danny's kick, and he went crashing to the ground.

Unfortunately for Danny, Man #2 was waiting for him. The man who said that Danny had spunk.

Man #2 grabbed Danny's shoulders, using his whole weight to keep Danny down. Danny was caught off balance, having used one leg to sweep Man #4 to the ground. He fell backwards, head hitting the concrete with a thump.

Stars danced before Danny's eyes, but he didn't have the time to really get his bearings before he saw a fist rushing towards him. He twisted his head, just barely avoiding being hit straight on with Man #2's punch. As it was, he did get grazed.

His cheek burned with the force of the hit, and Danny was sure that some of his skin must have come off.

Man #2 grinned, his face fuzzy to Danny's vision and surprisingly, upside-down. It took Danny a moment to understand his position.

He was lying back first on the ground, Man #2's hand pushing tightly against Danny's shoulder to prevent him from getting up.

"Nothing personal, kid," Man #2 said, preparing to punch again.

"Yeah," Danny whispered, pressing his palms against the cold hard floor. And then, Danny pushed up with his elbows and the lower part of his body snapped upwards. Danny's body bent like a rubber band, using his shoulder as a pivot point as he aimed an unorthodox kick at Man #2's head.

With his flexibility, his feet couldn't reach Man #2's position, but Man #2 didn't know that. Man #2 jerked back, obviously worried that Danny was going to conk him out like he did all the others.

Not really able to follow through with the motion, Danny rolled in a way that he was sure a human body was not supposed to roll. He cried out in pain, finally landing in a heap and was forced to spend a few precious seconds trying to catch his breath again.

"It looks like you're done," Man #2 said, sounding amused, "how 'bout we just call it a day? If you run right now, I won't come after you."

Shakily Danny got to his feet, walking back towards where he had come from before the fighting began, away from Man #2.

Man #2 nodded, "Good choice kid. It was a good fight, but there's a difference between losing and knowing when to there's no chance to win."

Danny stopped at the place where Horatio had first made his intentions clear.

Man #2's eyes widened, "Hey kid—!"

Danny bent his knees and grabbed his duffle bag, which was in the exact same place where he dropped it earlier. With a curse, Man #2 rushed towards him. Danny knew he had no chance to get away. His whole body stung with pain, and Man #2 was fresh. Besides that, Man #2 had longer legs and Danny had the extra weight of his bag and all that was in it.

He hadn't gotten the bag so he could run away, however.

Danny flung the duffle bag towards Man #2, who was almost upon him. Obviously not having seen that coming, Man #2 fumbled with the catch, and that was all the opening Danny needed.

The halfa leapt at the man, forcing his body into a roundabout kick. Momentarily blinded by the large duffle bag, the man didn't seen it coming. There was another crack as Danny's foot connected with the man's head, sending it snapping sideways.

Danny landed with a crouch just as Man #2 slumped to the floor, knocked out cold. Danny was breathing heavily, unused to the level of exertion in his human form. Still, adrenaline and his mother's lessons did a lot for him. Who knew martial arts was so useful? The goons had stood no chance, really.

With a grin, Danny made to get up, when suddenly something hit the side of his head, sending flickers of black into his vision. Danny stumbled, but his assailant didn't give him any time to recover.

Now it was Danny's turn to get his legs swept out from under him. He landed on his arm, sending up a stab of pain that made him squeeze his eyes shut out the odd colours that flashed behind his eyelids. He tried to roll, but the next moment there was a weight on him, preventing him from moving. He was pressed back first against the floor, someone's hands on his wrists and sitting on his naval, effectively trapping him.

Danny's eyes flickered open, and he paled.

Man #4's displeased face was glaring back down at him.

"Here's some advice kid," Man #4 snarled, "when you're fighting with men, make sure that when they go down, they stay down."

"Um," Danny said weakly, "I'm going to get a very bad beating, aren't I?"

"You have no idea," came Horatio's voice.

Horatio was still conscious too. Danny cranked his neck around, dismally wondering if all the fighting had been a waste, and he hadn't actually done anything at all. But no, Man #2, 3, and 5 were still lying where he had left them, not letting out so much as a twitch.

Danny had knocked three full grown men unconscious. That was his power. That was his limit.

"Look at me when I'm talking!" Man #4 snarled, using a meaty hand to grasp Danny's chin and force his head back into the upright position.

Danny winced at the sudden movement, his neck protesting at the rough treatment. "But, you weren't talking. Unless that twittering I thought I heard from the rats was actually you."

The man's eyes glinted. He knew he was in a superior position, so he didn't even bother to get offended. "You're trying to be smart? In your situation? I do admit kid, you've got guts. That, or a whole lot of stupidity. Either way, you're gonna pay."

Man #4 grinned, and raised a fist, just as Horatio came into sight.

"This is for our friends!"

His eye. Why did it always have to be the eyes?

"This is for the injuries!"

Danny's face snapped sideways with the force of the punch. Ouch…

"This is for the insult!"

Kidneys. Danny's breath rushed out of his body. That jerk! Was he trying to give Danny internal injuries or something?

"Hm, looks like I don't have to hold you down anymore."

Danny's vision was blurry, and he was hardly registering what was happening. He did however, feel Man #4's weight leave his body. He struggled to get up, but a kick to his stomach stopped him.

He lay there for a moment, gasping, hands pressed tightly over the kicked area.

Man #4 and Horatio didn't give him much chance to recover however. They kept kicking him, calling him names and making insults that really, really affronted his creative side. With his breath knocked out of him every few seconds however, Danny wasn't really in a position to reply.

By the end of it, Danny was in a curled up little ball, body twitch of its own accord. He hadn't even felt this bad when his future self had sent him to the ghost zone to be preyed on by all the ghosts he had yet to offend. He let out a low moan, hating himself for showing weakness but not able to stop it.

Pain. Pain permeated throughout his body. This was worse than any beating he had taken as Danny Phantom despite the fact that he had crashed straight through buildings and been hit dead on by spectral converters. That had been a more momentary pain, there one second and gone the next. This pain… this pain wasn't going away.

"Do you think he's finished, Horatio my man?"

"Yeah," Horatio grunted, "Now let's just take the money and go."

"You're not going anywhere!" A new voice joined the fray. Danny wasn't sure who it was; he certainly didn't recognize it to be any of the men whom he had knocked out.

Danny forced himself to crack a swollen eyelid open, but the best he could get was slits, and added to that the dark lighting, he couldn't really make out who had joined them. What he could see however was a blur of red and green, with some yellow mixed in there.

"You," it was Horatio who spoke, but for some reason, his voice sounded almost fearful? "You're the—"

"Titans, go!"

There was a shrill scream from Horatio's end, and then two thumps as bodies hit the ground. The fight was over before it even began.

"What's the point of saying 'Titans, go!' if you're the only one who was going to be fighting?" The speaker was a young voice, slightly whinny and an obvious complaint in his words.

"Beastboy, these were regular people. Unleashing you on them would have been overkill."

"Sure about that? I mean, look at this kid. They did quite a number on him, and it was two on one."

"Five on one," there was a pause, then, "look."

Their conversation continued, but Danny couldn't concentrate enough to make out the words anymore. Their voices fell like a blur in Danny's mind, and he could feel himself slipping. His eyes fluttered closed; the darkness seemed so welcoming right now.

"I think," said a low, deep voice that somehow transcended all the others, "that he needs to go to a hospital."

Danny's adrenaline rushed back full force. His eyes snapped open, "No! No hospital!"

If he went to a hospital, then they would ask for his name and medical records. It'd come out that he was Danny Fenton, and then he'd be sent back to Amity. Back to Vlad, maybe. Back to that horrible future that he couldn't allow to happen.

The figure above him startled. The person was wearing a deep blue cowl that hid their face, but Danny knew that this had to be one of the Titans. His fuzzy mind wasn't supplying him with the knowledge of which one, but he had come to Jump City to find the Titans, so it was best that they found him, right?

"Look," the blue figure said, sounding slightly annoyed. Danny distantly realized that it was the same person who spoke previously, and that she was female. "You're really badly hurt. Even I can't heal you properly. Don't be a masochist like Robin. You. Need. The. Hospital."

Danny shook his head wildly, "No hospital!"

"Do you _want_ me to knock you unconscious and—"

"No hospital! No hospital!" Danny screamed, thrashing wildly. His body flared up in red hot pain, but he hardly noticed through his panic. He couldn't break his promise to his family, he couldn't!

"Hey, hey, stop that!" The blue figure actually sounded slightly worried, "if you keep moving you'll aggravate your wounds and—!"

"No hospital! No hospital!"

Danny hardly even knew what he was saying anymore. All he knew was that he had a distinct knowledge of where he didn't want to go.

"Alright, alright! No hospital!"

Danny stopped thrashing. He gazed up intently at the figure in blue, "Promise?"

There was a hiss of displeasure, but the blue figure nonetheless nodded, "Yes, sure."

"Good," Danny said, and closed his eyes. The darkness came up to meet him, and this time, he didn't resist.

"Where are we going to take him if not the place of healing, Friend Raven? He is much hurt." Danny distantly heard through his haze as he slowly dropped into unconsciousness.

"Isn't it obvious Star?" It was the leader again, his voice almost amused. "We'll take him to Titan Tower."


	3. Tumble

_**Tumble**_

"Do you think it was the right idea, bringing him to Titan Tower?"

It was Raven who asked the question. She was currently looking at their newest guest, who was sleeping rather heavily on the sofa. Not that Robin could blame him. He took quite a beating last night. And gave quite a beating, if what they saw when they arrived was correct.

"You left us little choice," Robin pointed out, "you promised no hospital, and we didn't get his address before he passed out. Where else could we have taken him?"

"We could have left him in the alleyway," Raven muttered, folding her arms across her chest. The early rays of sunlight illuminated her cowl, giving her a soft look.

It was only six am, and the rest of the Titans weren't up yet. Robin and Raven were always early risers however, and besides that, their interesting guest had kept the two in the living room over the night.

For one, they wanted to make sure that he was alright and not suffering any permanent damage that they hadn't been able to discern at the scene of the crime. For another, they wanted to make sure he was no threat. Unlikely, but entirely possible.

The Teen Titans had been tricked enough times and nearly annihilated in consequence to take everything at surface level.

Robin smiled wryly, "If we'd left him in the alleyway who knows what would have happened to him? That wasn't an option Raven, and you know that. I'm calling you on your bluff."

"There always is another option," Raven said in reply, floating over to the kitchen. Robin however, noticed that she didn't offer any alternatives.

He hid a smile. More and more, Raven was complaining more so to keep up appearances than because she had any real nastiness. She was changing, and she just didn't want to acknowledge it.

Robin followed his sister like figure to the kitchen, deciding that some pick me up wouldn't be amiss. "It's a good thing we arrived when we did. Though I wish we had arrived sooner."

"He was hard to find," Raven muttered, pouring water into the kettle, "the lady who called us didn't exactly give us stellar directions."

Robin searched in the fridge for his ingredients, "That's true. Still, he shouldn't have gotten mixed up with people like them in the first place. I looked through his bag. Ten thousand dollars. They obviously weren't going to let him go so easily."

Raven's ears perked. It was obviously the first time she had heard this information. "What was he buying, do you suppose?"

Robin sighed, closing the fridge as he took out the food needed to make his morning drink. "Nothing good, from the looks of things."

Raven glanced at Robin. Out of all the Titans, only she really knew about the darker side of the world. "Do you think…?"

"No," Robin instantly replied, instinctively knowing what she was asking. Was the kid a druggie? Would he be a danger to them because he wouldn't be fully in control of his actions? "He's in too good of a shape for that. Look. Good tan, rosy cheeks. Took out three men twice his size. Definitely some sort of athlete. His type wouldn't risk it."

"He doesn't exactly look like a jock," Raven said sarcastically. "Maybe he's a badminton player."

Robin blinked, and then his lips twitched, "Did you just make a joke? And insult badminton all in the same breath?"

"You don't have to make that expression, Wonder Boy," Raven muttered, but the slight curl of her lips betrayed her, "the world's not coming to an end."

Robin's eyes softened at those words. Raven had been much more open and relaxed since Trigon. He was glad that she was finally opening up.

"Tch, now your expression's turned all sappy."

Robin instantly fixed his face, "What are you talking about? I'm not sappy."

A smirk danced on the edges of the sorceress's lips, "Really? Then what do you call how you are with Starfire nowadays?"

Robin flushed red. He couldn't help it. "Th-th-that's not relevant."

"Oh, lovely comeback Oh Wondrous One," Raven replied sarcastically. "Your sharp tongue has rendered me speechless and completely unable to say anything in reply."

"Considering that technically didn't have a comeback to my previous statement, does that mean I've really rendered you speechless?" Robin teased, instantly bouncing back.

He did love these little word games of theirs. Starfire couldn't do it properly because she just didn't have that mastery over English yet. It was adorable of course, and Robin wouldn't change her for anyone in the world, but Robin was a circus performer first and foremost and he did need to keep up with his on-the-fly entertainment checks. Cyborg's mind wasn't exactly in the details, and Beastboy… well, it was Beastboy. Enough said.

Raven rolled her eyes, and it was in that instant that the kettle started whistling. She turned away from him, making ready her tea.

Robin also got back to making his morning drink. Raw egg. Mmm.

Raven made a face as he downed the glass, and coolly sipped at her tea, "I still don't know how you drink that stuff."

"Starfire likes it."

Raven rolled her eyes, "Starfire drinks mustard."

"Point."

And then, Robin cocked his head, noticing a set of heavy footfalls coming towards the kitchen. Robin always made sure to be aware of his surroundings, even when it seemed as if he was in a safe haven. After all, one could never know when villains would strike.

"Who is it?" Raven asked, far used to this behavior. She didn't even look over, too preoccupied with setting her tea.

"Cyborg," Robin replied, just as the half-mecha's voice reached their ears.

"Hey fellas! What's rockin' this morning? How's our guest?"

Robin turned to face his second in command just as Cyborg stepped out of the shadows of the hallway and into the muted lighting of the kitchen. "He's still snoozing."

And then, as if to contradict him, the boy on the couch groaned, and turned over.

Robin, Cyborg, and Raven turned as one, staring curiously at the newest occupant of Titan Tower.

"That's odd," Raven murmured, so low that Robin was sure he wasn't meant to have heard, but nevertheless he still did. "He shouldn't be awake for at least another five hours."

Robin frowned at the assessment. Raven was knowledgeable in the field of medicine just as much as she was knowledgeable in just about everything else. Which meant, a lot. Add that to her healing powers, and it made it very unlikely that her evaluations would be off, and by so much.

Blue eyes fluttered open, and the boy on the couch shifted into a half sitting position, rubbing his head tenderly, "Ugh. What was the license plate of the truck that hit me? I need to get back at that guy."

Cyborg blinked in surprise, and then barked out laugh, "I like this guy already."

The boy tensed, and glanced over in their direction sharply. Robin recognized that glance; it was an assessing one, looking for their strengths and weaknesses and whether or not they were a threat. He himself had seen that look too many times to count. The look of a fighter.

And then, recognition lit in the boy's eyes, and he visibly relaxed. "Oh, you're the Teen Titans, aren't you?"

"Wow, you didn't even need three guesses," Cyborg jokingly replied.

"Uh… how did I end up here?"

"You don't remember?" Almost subconsciously it seemed, Raven floated over to the boy, peering at him curiously.

The blue eyed boy blinked up at her, and then his face heated up. "OH! You were… look, I'm really sorry about— wait, I haven't been in a coma or anything, have I?"

Robin and Raven exchanged looks, and the Boy Wonder also walked back to the living room. Cyborg quickly followed him, no doubt not wanting to be left alone.

"No," Raven finally replied, "you were only unconscious for twelve hours. Though you should have been unconscious for longer, considering the amount of injuries you were sporting."

The boy laughed nervously, making Robin narrow his eyes. Either the boy was really intimidated by Raven (and Robin didn't quite rule that out as a possibility, because when the girl put her mind to it, she could be as scary as the Batman) or he was hiding something.

"Anyway," the boy continued, and Robin noticed that he didn't answer Raven's unspoken question. "Sorry about last night, then. I didn't mean to freak out on you. I was a little delirious, as much as I hate to admit it."

Robin decided that it was time to cut in. "It's expected that you would be delirious. By the time that we arrived, the two thugs were ready to leave you for dead. Which brings me to my next question. You could have been seriously hurt if you left your wounds unattended, so why did you insist that we wouldn't bring you to a hospital?"

The boy opened his mouth, then closed it. He looked down, his fists clenching around his sheets. "That's… that's because that if I went to a hospital, they'd ask for my name and records. And when they found out who I was, they'd send me back…"

Robin almost asked 'to where', but stopped himself at the last instant. He of all people should know what it was like to want to abandon the past. Cyborg and Raven were likewise understanding; they didn't look like they even thought to continue this line of questioning.

"Ah," was Robin's intellectual reply.

"Yeah," the boy said, shifting nervously. And then, he looked up, his blue eyes sparkling with curiosity. "Not that I'm complaining or anything, but aren't you going to ask?"

"None of us use our real names," Cyborg said in reply, shaking his head as a bitter smile flittered across his face, "and it's not just 'cause we think our superhero names are much cooler."

Robin threw a sharp glance at his second in command. As much as he sympathized with the injured boy, there still was a possibility that he could be an enemy. What was Cyborg doing giving out personal information like that?

Cyborg caught the look, and grinned sheepishly.

The boy's clueless look at the exchange however, eased Robin's worries a little.

Inwardly Robin let out a sigh of relief, and decided that it was time for a little subject change. None of them were particularly fond of the topic of what they had been before they were the Titans.

Robin turned back to the boy they had picked up. "You probably know who we are, but we don't know who you are…?"

The Boy Wonder's voice was curious, but not unkind.

"Oh!" The boy rubbed the back of his head, which seemed to some sort of habit for him, and grinned sheepishly, "I'm Danny."

He didn't offer a last name. Robin didn't ask for one.

Still, the name seemed to suit the boy somehow. Laissez-fair and completely comfortable even after a beating that must have still hurt; laid-back and witty even amongst superheroes. Robin wouldn't say that the Teen Titans were anywhere close to the league of… well, anyone in the League, really, but he knew that most people wouldn't be able to sit so calmly in their presence like Danny was doing.

"So what were you doing in that alleyway anyway?" Raven said. It couldn't really be called a question because her voice was devoid of any intonation.

It sounded as if she had asked the question purely for procedural reasons, and that she couldn't care less what Danny's answer was.

Robin hid a grin. He knew that Raven had been holding in her curiosity all this time and now that it was clear Robin was done with his questions for the moment, she could take center stage. The question had likely been bugging her, and now she had finally given in to it.

Raven shot him an unamused look, probably having sensed his emotions.

Robin replied with an unapologetic smirk.

Again, the boy's hand went to the back of his head to further mess up his jet black hair. "Man, you might not believe it, but I was trying to rent an apartment."

"In that part of town?" Cyborg asked incredulously.

"Said you probably wouldn't believe it," Danny muttered, "but yeah, see, since I'm, um…"

He didn't really continue, but he didn't need to. Robin decided to rescue him and fill in the rest. He turned to Cyborg, "He's a minor. It's against the law for minors to rent out apartments. That part of Jump however, doesn't always abide by the law."

"Oh," Cyborg looked startled, "woah Robin, didn't know you would know about that stuff. Thought you'd only, you know, know about how to catch the criminals there or whatnot."

Robin just hummed in response. As much as he would have loved to be a straight arrow for the law, his time in Gotham had taught him that not all was as black and white as he would have liked.

Danny fidgeted, shooting another nervous look at the leader of the famous Teen Titans, "So uh, you're not gonna arrest me or anything, are you?"

Robin shook his head, "It's not against the law to try to rent an apartment. It's just against the law to actually rent out an apartment to a minor."

Ah loopholes. How he loved them so.

Danny's jaw dropped open.

Cyborg let out a laugh.

"Is—is the leader of the Teen Titans supposed to be so—" Danny started weakly, and never quite finished.

Robin just smirked in reply.

And then his face turned more serious, "Hey look, I'd hate to be so grim, but we need to know. Renting an apartment in Jump isn't cheap, especially for a teenager. Where did you get the money?"

A flash of —something— passed through Danny's eyes. Anger? Grief? Guilt? The boy's fists tightened on his sheet, and he looked away, "Look I— I didn't steal it, if that's what you're asking."

Robin nodded in response, deciding that Danny's response didn't seem like a thief's response, despite his suspicious reaction. Years of detective work allowed Robin a certain confidence that Danny's reaction was linked to his past, which was why it was so fuzzy.

And then he realized that Danny couldn't see his nod.

"Alright, that's all I wanted to know," Robin added, and then paused, a mischievous grin spreading across his features. "Wait, there is one more thing that I want to know."

Danny turned back to look at him, and for the first time, his expression was wary. "Uh-oh, I know that tone. What is it?"

"How did you take out those three guys?" Robin asked excitedly. He had to admit that he got a little like a kid before Santa Claus when he saw someone with a decent knowledge of martial arts, and Danny definitely had to have a decent knowledge to take out the three large men like he did.

Sure, Robin could have taken out all five and not have broken a sweat in the process, but he had lived in a circus half his life and trained with the Batman the other half. It was exciting to finally find someone who might understand his passion for fighting.

"Oh," Danny looked surprised by the question, which once again, sent Cyborg into choked guffaws. "Well my m— I learned from someone with a tenth degree in karate. The lessons were painfully boring, but I guess it paid off, huh?"

Robin didn't miss the look of pain as Danny quickly changed what he had been about to say, but he decided to ignore it. It was kinder that way.

"Boring?" Robin pouted. Yes, actually pouted. Something about the topic of new ways to fight just did that to him. "Martial arts are never boring!"

Raven, bored with this turn of conversation, drifted back to her tea.

"Are you insane? The only thing more boring is Mr. Lancer's English class, and let me tell you, not a single head doesn't nod in his English class."

"A class can't be that bad," Robin protested. One thing he would never understand was how children complained about their teachers. He had seen TV shows about highschool kids, and he never thought the teachers were over-demanding.

Cyborg snorted, and patted Danny on the shoulder. "Just ignore him, Dan my man. Robin's still living in a world of daisies as far as authority is concerned. He doesn't know the horrors of school."

Robin crossed his arms. Out of all the Titans, Cyborg was possibly the only one who had formal schooling, but he didn't need to rub it in.

"Maybe I should have been the one to take the assignment to Hex," Robin muttered, thinking about the time that he had allowed Cyborg to become Victor Stone and had nearly lost him as a result.

"Eh, what was that?"

"Nothing," Robin said. He didn't want to bring up Hex again anytime soon. Although Cyborg had stated he was over it, Robin wasn't so sure. He didn't want to pain their mechanical genius again.

"So he doesn't follow the law, is unreasonable, and mutters to himself," Danny said in amazement. "This is the great Robin."

Cyborg laughed at that, "Yeah, sorry to shatter your superhero dreams. And if you think this is Robin muttering now, you should see him when he's focused on a problem."

"Cyborg," Robin said warningly, but with no real malice. He never really noticed his 'muttering problems' as Beastboy liked to call them, but since even Starfire had admitted that he did tend to start mumbling solutions to himself when he was overworked, he accepted them as a part of himself. That didn't however, mean Cyborg could go advertising it.

"I hope you're done with your conversation," Raven intoned as she came floating back into their sphere of sight with a teacup in hand, "because the circus just woke up."

As if in response to her statement, the sound of thundering feet filled the corridors, and the next instant Beast Boy's clambering voice could be heard down the hallway.

"Heeelllloooo!" The green skinned teen shouted, finally coming into view at the last of his 'o' as he skidded to a halt at the entrance of the halls. He leapt towards Robin, who quickly sidestepped to avoid being ploughed to the ground.

Beast Boy crashed to the ground, but that didn't deter him. He was too used to it by now. The mutant immediately leapt to his feet again, looking around wildly, "Is he up yet? Is he up yet?"

There was only one person whom Beast Boy could be referring to.

"Well," Robin replied dryly, "even if Danny weren't awake, he would be now."

Out of the corner of his eye, Robin saw Danny give a snort of amusement, and he couldn't help but smirk in reply.

Beast Boy's eyes widened as he looked towards the newest occupant of their tower. He quickly rushed toward Danny, and grabbed onto his hands, shaking them wildly. "Wow, it's great to meet someone who can so easily take down a bunch of bad guys without even any super powers. I was super impressed1 I was really worried for a moment there that you would be a goner, but with Raven attending to you I guess there was no need to worry, right? My name's Beast Boy, what's yours?"

He said this all very fast.

Robin wasn't one for reading fiction, but he had picked up Rowling's Harry Potter once as a favour to Starfire. She couldn't understand many of the inferences they made, and he had to explain them. If Robin were to imagine a real life first year Hermione Granger, it would be Beast Boy.

Danny simply looked dazed, "Uh… my name is Danny?"

"Do you play video games?" Beast Boy pressed.

Danny gave a semi-mocking glare at the green skinned boy. "Well yeah, of course I do. What self respecting guy doesn't? I'm a big fan of DOOMED."

"Cool! What's your account name?"

"Yeah man," Cyborg but in, "why didn't you say that earlier?"

Robin nodded along with them. Although he didn't play as much video games as Beast Boy and Cyborg, it was just as Danny said… what self respecting guy didn't play a video game or two when they needed to relieve stress? Besides, DOOMED was a strategic game, and it stimulated his brain.

For some reason that sounded like an excuse, even in his own mind.

"Oh boy," Raven muttered, "here comes another unmentionable subject. I think I'll just go and make myself a muffin with that tea."

The boys ignored her, too caught up in their discussion of their favourite computer game. They didn't talk long however, before the last member of the Titans joined them.

"Hello Friends!" Starfire greeted as she glided into the room, halting in its tracks a furious discussion about whether one should jump to the high land or not during level 5 of DOOMED. "Is it not a glorious morning?"

Robin glanced up from the diagrams he had sketched out and so that Danny and Cyborg could better see his point about the high lands. He put down his pen. "Oh, hey Starfire."

"Hello Friend Robin!" Starfire responded with enthusiasm, before turning with gleaming eyes towards Danny, "You are better I hope? Since you are already engaging in the bonding of the males, you are alright now, yes?"

Danny blinked, obviously having never encountered anyone like Starfire before. Robin didn't blame him. He too had taken some time to get used to the alien's way of talking, and she still sometimes said things that surprised him.

Well, he didn't mind surprises.

"Er," Danny finally said, "I am feeling a lot better, thanks."

"That is glorious!" Starfire beamed. "I am Starfire, and my favourite colour is yellow. What is your favourite colour, and what is your name? Also, will you be my friend?"

"Oh uh, sure?"

There was more staring from Starfire, and Danny seemed to realize he hadn't answered all of her questions.

"I mean, my name's Danny, and my favourite colour is red. I'd love to be your friend."

Starfire squealed in delight.

"Are we done with the video game talk?" Raven yawned as she once again, floated back in, "Good, then we can finally get some food."

It was just then that Beast Boy's tummy rumbled. He blinked, and put a hand to his tummy, "Man Raven, did you read my mind or something?"

Raven just gave a mild glare back.

"It will be glorious to have the eating of the breakfast!" Starfire exclaimed, clapping her hands together and happily ignoring Raven and Beast Boy, "I am always ready for the wondering food Earth has to offer."

Cyborg chuckled. "Well, I can't say I'm as enthusiastic as those two, but yeah, I want breakfast too. What will we have this morning, Robin?"

The Boy Wonder thought for a moment, "Let's go down to Persephone's. Their pancakes aren't bad."

Danny seemed to perk up at that, "Eh? You guys are going to a restaurant for breakfast?"

"They have the best pancakes," Beast Boy intoned seriously.

"Oh, er," Danny blinked. "Yeah, I get that. There was a place at home, the Nas—"

Something flashed across Danny's eyes, and his sentence died mid-word. His mouth was still open, but it seemed as if he couldn't get any words to go through his throat.

"What is the matter, Friend Danny?" Starfire asked, to which Cyborg immediately made large cut-throat signals with his hand. Starfire gave him a curious look, "And what are you doing, Friend Cyborg?"

Cyborg immediately stopped the signals, giving a soundless sigh as he did so. He just shook his head.

Danny swallowed, and then seemed to nod to himself, before forcing his lips into a smile. "Sorry about that, I just got lost in my thoughts. Now where was I? Oh yeah, I used to go to a place like that too, so I understand when you feel too lazy to make something."

If Robin noted that the blue eyed boy's voice was a little bit shaky, he didn't comment on it.

Beast Boy, ever the one for defusing awkward conversations, even if he didn't know it himself, made a comment about a stain shaped like an elephant on the carpet, and everything was fine again. Small talk continued, and although Danny did occasionally pause in something other than thought, nobody commented on it.

They made their way to the restaurant. Betty, the waitress, didn't even bother to give them a look as she waved them over to a table with five chairs. Four glasses were already set out for them, each with their favourite drink.

"Hold up," Robin said, "we have one extra person with us today."

Betty startled, and it was just then that she seemed to notice Danny.

"Oh my goodness, I am so sorry," She apologized, bowing to her waist. She went completely perpendicular.

"Uh," Danny said, looking like a deer caught in headlights. He waved his arms, not that she could see, since she was still bent over. "It's okay, really! No problem, none!"

She instantly straightened, nodding unconvinced. Still looking displeased with herself, she quickly moved another chair to the table. Danny looked positively panicked.

Robin decided to take pity on him. "Don't worry, that's just Betty for you. She'll be over it in five minutes."

True to her word, in just about five minutes, Betty seemed to have forgotten that she was supposed to be upset. She ushered the Titans + Danny into their seats, and held out a menu to him. "What would you like today?"

Danny hesitantly took the book offered and flipped through the pages, scanning the contents curiously before closing the booklet again. He glanced over to Robin and the others, and awkwardly held out the menu, "Um, you guys going to order?"

Robin shook his head, "Thanks for the thought, but we already know what we want."

Danny flushed slightly, but looked like he expected it. He nodded, and handed the folder back to the girl. He hurriedly gave his order, which had to be the unhealthiest thing Robin had ever heard. But he didn't comment, even if his lips did turn downwards a little in disapproval.

"Woah," Beast Boy whispered, "was that just chocolate with a little bit of toast attached?"

Danny smiled sheepishly in reply as the waitress scurried off to the kitchen. "I er, haven't had sweets for a long time?"

"We should enter you in a contest," Cyborg said in amazement, "how much years worth of bacon do you think we can get from that, guys?"

The conversation somehow dissolved into an argument about the evils of bacon and how sweets were so much better, during the course of which Starfire got confused and decided that downing all their mustard was a good idea to make herself feel better about not understanding. It did make her feel better, but it stopped the conversation short.

"Did you just…" Danny started, and then stopped. He was speechless, and Robin couldn't say he blamed him.

Still, a friend was a friend, and although Danny was cool, Robin wasn't going to let him insult Starfire. Robin tensed, waiting to rebuke a rude comment.

But Danny just shook his head, "I've seen people down bottles of hot sauce, but this is a new experience. And you guys are saying that _I_ should be in contest. Star could probably earn you _decades_ of bacon, Cy."

Cyborg turned towards the alien, a new gleam in his eyes.

Starfire just smiled serenely, but Robin certainly felt the alarm. "No!"

Everyone turned to stare at him.

"Er," Robin said, scratching his head slightly in embarrassment, "I mean it'd be rude to treat our friends as a ticket to free food? I mean, what does that say about how we view friendship really? Isn't this exactly the sort of thing that we're supposed to stop?"

Everyone nodded at Robin's logic, accepting it because he was their leader. Robin inwardly breathed a sigh of relief; crisis averted. He really didn't need Cyborg and Starfire teaming up to win mustard drinking contests.

Raven gave him a knowing look, which Robin only replied to with a weak smile. He had of course, known that she wouldn't be fooled by his weak speech.

The meal passed in relative ease. Everybody had a lot of questions for Danny, and to his credit, Danny tried his best to answer them. There was a little star-struck attitude that he had, but more often than not he seemed to fit right in. As Cyborg had observed earlier, Danny was 'cool'.

When Robin took a moment to think about it, he couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. There had been another person who had fit into the Titans like a missing puzzle piece, and Robin couldn't help but think of her. She had been cool and confident, funny and witty, all qualities which Danny were exhibiting at the moment. The situation was so similar to Terra's that Robin couldn't help but feel a wave of apprehension.

That was only when Robin took a moment to think about it though. The rest of the time he was drilling Danny excitedly about what type of karate he practiced, and what variations his teacher taught him. The rest of the time Robin was trying to convert the newcomer to the worship of martial arts, and laughing with the rest of them when Danny made a particularly snide remark about an enemy that they had fought in the past.

Robin felt twinges of worry, but that was all it was. Twinges.

After all, the situation was different from that of Terra's. Danny was just a regular human. A really, really awesome regular person, but ultimately, just a regular person.


	4. Fall

_**Fall**_

It'd only been a few days since Danny began to stay with the Titans, and when he stopped to think about it, he did feel a little guilty about imposing on them for such a long time. After all, they were a superhero group, and he was not a superhero any longer. Never had been.

Sometimes during the darkness of the night, when Dan Phantom's presence felt most real to him, Danny would rage at it all. Why couldn't he have been born with superpowers like the Teen Titans obviously were; why did his have to come out of a freak accident and end with catastrophe?

And then the anger would bleed away, and the loneliness would settle in.

What he wouldn't have given to have his parents at the moment. His beloved sister Jazz. His precious Tucker and Sam.

Regret would tear through him, rending him breathless with its intensity. It was more painful than any of the ghost battles he had ever been in, then any torture ever inflicted upon him.

If only… if only…

It made him want to curl up into a ball and cry, except that he would suddenly remember that he was currently a guest at Titan Tower sleeping on the couches until he found his own apartment. If there was evidence of him breaking down, even the ever amiable Titans would wonder why.

Still, when the day broke out and the dark thoughts of the night were gone, all thoughts of leaving vanished from Danny's head. Maybe it was because the Titans were so engaging or that Danny was lazy, or maybe it was some sort of weird 'one week stay' guest observing ritual from planet Xarfg—whatever planet Starfire was from— but Danny hardly thought about it.

He was currently engaging in a rather dubious conversation with Robin.

"I only know how to cook very simple stuff, but that's apparently better than five superheroes who've been living independently for two years?"

Danny didn't even bother to hide his incredulous tone.

"We were busy," Robin replied laboriously.

"Busy," Danny said flatly.

"Why do you think we were always going out to diners for the past four days?" Robin retaliated quickly in response.

"And that," Raven murmured as she floated back into the living room, "is the perfect escape."

Danny startled slightly. To this day he still could not get used to Raven sneaking around, and though he was trying his best to dampen his 'jump-and-fight' instincts, it wasn't really working. Then again, he'd only been at this for four days.

Once again, Raven gave him a Look, which he could never really decipher. Heck, he could never really decipher anything about the blue robed girl. He never knew when she was joking or serious, and he was too hesitant to ask because to them, he was only a guest that would be leaving very very soon.

"I'm not trying to escape," Robin muttered, before shaking his head and turning back to Danny with a grin. "Okay how about this Danny? You show us your amazing cooking skills and I'll forget that you just made the biggest observational error in history."

"It wasn't that bad!" Danny protested, "Your stove was first class! Anyone would have been confused!"

Even as the words left his mouth however, Danny was getting up from his seat. He wasn't one to back down from a challenge.

The Titans, thankfully, had a variety of foodstuffs and spices in their cupboards, which Danny was quick to point out to Robin wouldn't be there if _nobody was cooking_. It was at that point that the rest of the Titans woke up and wandered into the general space.

"Woah, you cook?!" Beast Boy exclaimed as he bounced over to Danny to peer over his shoulder at the recipe he was mixing. "That's so cool man! This guy here—" he jerked a thumb towards Cyborg "—tries to cook, but it never turns out right!"

Cyborg turned red so fast that Danny almost had to wonder if he didn't get overheated. "Hey man! Just 'cause you can't appreciate an all meat diet doesn't mean you have to bash my cooking skills!"

"If you're just heating up meat, that's hardly cooking! It's the vegetable frying that really tests a chief. I've seen this all on a TV show!"

"Do you remember the one place you worked at that turned out to be made of monstrous tofu?" Cyborg mumbled, looking as if he were holding back laughter.

Beast Boy turned red. "We—well, at least I wasn't the one eating that stuff! And it was Newfu. NEWfu! Totally different from tofu!"

Danny felt a pang in his chest at the turn in conversation, their argument reminding him depressingly of Sam and Tucker. It was weird to think that he'd never hear it again. Never _see them_ again.

And it was all his fault.

But then, he didn't need to think that, not exactly. The thought never quite left his mind.

He almost dropped the plates. Raven gave him another look that told him that she knew he felt something from him, and he quickly fought to disperse of the sudden wave of sadness.

Starfire thankfully, said something which brought him out of his unexpected moment of vertigo.

"Friend Danny," the violet clad alien smiled as she leaned over his shoulder to see what he was chopping, "I did not know that you also partook in the art of the cooking. Shall we engage in this activity together some time and sample each other's glorious foods?"

Danny froze, panic overtaking the pained nostalgia.

"Uhhh," he started intelligently.

"How about we get through this meal first?" Raven asked dryly. "If he doesn't manage to burn everything, then we'll consider letting him into the kitchen again."

"Hey!"

The rest of the time was spent in easy banter as Danny proceeded to go ahead and make Robin eat his words. When he was finished, even he was proud of himself.

"So help yourself," Danny said with a wave of his hand as he finished. The food was still in the pan and he couldn't be bothered to set the table. Thankfully, the other teenagers didn't seem to think it was important either.

They all took their own portions, and, not really caring about how his cooking skills were to be judged, Danny did not wait anxiously. He took a taste of his dish and grinned. It was good. Probably one of the best he'd ever done.

"So," Danny said with a challenging glint in his eye as he turned to Robin, "what was our wager for the bet again?"

Robin flicked a piece of food at him, "There was no wager. I suppose this goes to show your horrid observation skills again. But okay yeah, I'll admit that you can cook. This is good."

"Hm," Beast Boy frowned, "to be honest it isn't as good as Persephone's."

Raven facepalmed.

"Beast Boy…" Raven began, but she was cut off as the alarms suddenly started blaring.

Danny froze.

So too, did everyone else.

The ease and simplicity of the meal they'd just shared was suddenly brought to a grinding halt as their minds collectively took in the meaning of the sound.

And then, they all sprang into action.

"Going Gho—"

"Titans, GO!"

The alarms in his home sounded exactly like the ones at Titan Tower, and for a moment Danny had been ready to go ghost.

He hardly registered the Titans panicking and ushering him back into the room that he had first woken up in. He hardly heard Robin as the boy explained to him in rapid speech what was happening. Danny just felt himself nod a lot, and within moments the Titans were gone.

Danny took a deep, shaky breath, and sat down on the coach. He closed his eyes, fists clenching as his whole body started to shake.

Just what was that? For a moment he had been back in his home again, doing a habitual glance around first to check if his parents were around before transforming, and that was when he remembered that his parents _weren't_ around anymore.

He was not home, trying valiantly but ultimately unsuccessfully to do his homework before a ghost attacked. He was not at home, where it had been up to Danny Phantom to save the day.

How could he think that his parents were back, when it was so evident that they were gone? That was immensely stupid of him, and if he made more mistakes like that in the future, he was bound to go insane.

Honestly, they really needed to buy alarms elsewhere.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there for, just thinking. Eventually he did manage to shake himself out of it, and realized that it might be prudent to see what his newest friends were doing.

Nodding to himself, partially to keep his memories at bay, and partially because of real curiosity, Danny turned on the television. It went automatically to the news channel.

"—timely arrival of Jump City's own Teen Titans," the lady on the channel was saying as the television screen fuzzed to life. She was standing on some sort of tall building, her hair whipping in the winds as she sternly spoke to the camera despite the loud crashes and explosions coming from below. "Whoever this new monster is, it does not look like it stands a chance."

The camera panned to the side and zoomed in the city square. There the Titans were fighting some sort of large rock monster who was smashing everything it could both in and out of its sight.

Danny's bitterness was forgotten as he watched his new friends fight the creature with wide blue eyes. They moved with a synchronicity that was almost refined; the way that they leaped over each other and used each other's strengths almost made the fight look more like a choreography instead of a brawl. And this was with a huge giant rock monster demolishing everything.

Graceful, agile. Each of them brought something new to the battle. Robin with his acrobatic flips and commanding direction. Starfire with her burst of pure power and passion. Cyborg with his precise shots and unyielding backup. Raven with her fearsome abilities and calm accessing nature. Beast Boy with his creative support and relentless energy.

It was so obvious from the fight—more obvious than the simple and easy way that the Titans spoke to each other—that they knew each other better perhaps than they knew themselves. _This_ was a team. _This_ was an extraordinary team.

And then the most horrifying thing happened.

Cyborg, who had just been distracting the monster's attention away from a recovering Starfire, suddenly froze.

His pelting fire stopped mid build, the glow of his arm dimming as his one eye made of skin and flesh widened considerably. And then, all of the sudden his arm dropped, and in fact his whole body kinda dropped. He toppled over. It might have been comical had it not happened in the middle of a fight.

The rock creature evidently did not care about whatever ailment had hit Cyborg. All it knew was that the pesky beam fire had stopped, thus allowing it free movement again. With a roar the creature bent its body and lifted an abandoned convertible that had been left on the side of the road, and threw it towards Cyborg's prone body.

It happened faster than anyone could react. The convertible hit, sending a plume of dust into the air and obscuring the cameras.

"NO!" Danny screamed as he flew up from his position on the couch. All he could see was fire. Screams and loud, mocking laughter. It was happening again!

Except that it wasn't.

When the dust died down it became that Raven had made it just in the nick of time. She was standing just behind Cyborg, her hands raised up in front of her and a look of concentration on her face as the thick black shield which had protected Cyborg from the bulk of the attack dissipated.

The other Titans had picked up on the fact that something was wrong, and doubled their efforts to distract the rock monster and Raven moved in quick strides over to Cyborg and began conversing with him in low tones. They didn't have more than a moment however. The rock monster seemed to have set his eyes on the robotic Titan and broke through the other three to charge at him.

Starfire flew in last minute to get Cyborg out of the way, and Raven quickly melted into the ground. The fight continued, but unlike before, there was now a void in the Titans fighting style that made it so that they no longer had the advantage.

"Oh no," the reporter said worriedly as the camera panned back to her. "It appears that our Titan Cyborg came into this battle with an uncharged battery. If this battle does not finish quickly to allow him back to the Tower and to retrieve a new battery, then this could get ugly."

His heart was still stuck in his throat. Suddenly Danny knew that he couldn't just sit here.

Danny gritted his teeth and quickly rushed up to the huge screen. He had no idea what he was doing, but he thought it was better than doing nothing. He slid open the drawer containing the keyboard, and cast his eyes about furiously for the communication button.

Thankfully, he did have some experience with this, what with him being the inheritor of the Fenton Ghost Machines, and it was within a minute that he found it. Not giving himself any time to convince himself out of the idea, Danny slammed his fist down on the intercom button.

Immediately, voices penetrated the Titan Tower.

"—go on without me. Don't worry about me!"

"Friend Cyborg! We cannot just leave you here!"

"Star! Go help Robin. You—"

"Guys!" Danny spoke into the mic, "Guys, where do you get Cyborg's batteries?"

There was a moment of silence. And then—

"Danny, what are you doing—"

"Friend Danny! How is it that you are speaking with us?"

"Duude! Did you just touch the intercom button which Robin expressly told you not to touch? Awesome."

The sound of an explosion caused some static.

"Look Danny," Robin panted, his breath coming in short gasps as if he'd just dodged something that shouldn't have been physically possible to dodge, "I have no idea why you're using this, but this really isn't the time."

"That's what I'm calling about," Danny said, his fist clenching at his side. He hated feeling like this. Hated feeling useless. "I can help. Cyborg. I can get his batteries for him, if you'll only tell me where."

Another silence. And then, Robin's choked voice, "Danny, you can't—"

"I sure as heck can! Cyborg's defenseless out there otherwise!"

"You're a civilian! This guy is dangerous. If you come down here you might get hurt!"

"And if I don't, Cyborg might, or others might because you guys didn't stop him!"

"Danny…"

"Room 85, left corner, on top of a black bookshelf," Raven cut in, thankfully answering Danny's inquiry without any fanfare. "It looks like three long tubes bound together by leather, and it has five rings on the upper right side for the company logo. Use Robin's motorbike to get here."

"Raven—!"

Danny nodded and turned off the intercom, cutting off the impending argument as he turned and ran towards the described room. He'd been showed the Tower in total, and now he couldn't be more glad for it as he skidded into Cyborg's room.

The spare battery was exactly where Raven had described it. It looked exactly as Raven had described it.

Danny snatched the battery without second thought before sprinting to the garage. He was too young for a driver's license but he did know how to drive a motorcycle exceedingly well, as Raven had predicted.

Robin had a whole row full of bikes lined up in the garage. He'd taken his custom so Danny wasn't particularly worried about stepping on anybody's feathers as he revved up one of the vehicles and drove it out of the Tower.

It was only when he hit daylight that he realized he'd forgotten something vital.

He didn't actually know where the Titans were.

The bike gutted to a stop as Danny trailed a leg against the floor to stop it. His mouth dropped open as he glanced back at the tower with wide blue eyes. He could go back and find out, but that would take precious time, and he did not know how Cyborg would fare in that wasted time.

"No!" Danny yelled as he slammed a hand against the dashboard in a sudden fit of frustration. "No!"

Of all the things that would stop him, why did it have to be his stupid inability to pay attention? If something happened to Cyborg this would be entirely his fault, even after Raven had trusted him.

Once again, he'd failed to foresee the consequences of his actions. If only he actually took the time to _think_.

But this time, it seemed as if his failure wouldn't be irreversible.

"Detecting disturbance," the motorbike said in its mechanized voice. "Pinpointing direction."

Danny watched with wide eyes as the GPS screen began blipping, the map switching around until the screen stopped at the street that Danny vaguely recalled seeing on the news.

He let out a breath.

Cool.

"Yeah, there," Danny quickly said, and the motobike's GPS system locked onto the target. Quickly Danny started up the bike again, and before the GPS had even fully calibrated, he was off.

He arrived at a scene of pure destruction. The news channel had somehow managed to miss the worst of it. Either that or it'd just gotten this much worse from the time that he ran out of Titan's Tower to the time that he got here.

The street was barely recognizable. Pavement was upended and the roads resembled something of a whacky fun house more than center square. Overturned cars and broken street lamps littered the area, obscuring everything.

Danny didn't give it a moment's thought.

He slid off the bike in one smooth motion, quickly taking up the battery as he ran towards the space where the chaos seemed to be originating from. The rock monster was even larger in person, easily taking up the space of half a building. The Titans were struggling, trying to keep him contained.

"I'm here!" Danny called as he dashed towards them, hoping to attract someone's attention so that they could direct him to Cyborg.

Unfortunately, it seemed to attract the rock monster's attention too.

The monster roared and swiveled towards him, and Danny froze as its hungry animalistic eyes settled upon his form. He'd fought against creatures of course, but somehow they'd never seemed quite so real as what he saw in front of him.

Some part of him had always thought about the ghosts he fought as part of his parents' life, and in that sense just as crazy. It'd always been the Fenton Thermos for them, because while they could be a danger they were ultimately harmless.

It was not the case with this monster.

It would kill him if it had the chance.

The monster didn't waste a second. It let out a bellow and took up a large chunk of debris beside it. Danny understood what it was going to do a second before it actually happened.

The rock creature threw the boulder, as if Danny's very presence made him deserving of being crushed beneath a thousand pounds of rubble. Danny made to move, although he knew he wouldn't make it quickly enough.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

Raven appeared out of nowhere, stopping the boulder with cackling black energy and a look of intense concentration on her face. The rock monster didn't waste any more time with Danny. Seeing the new opponent it barreled into her, knocking the violet haired girl back who gave a shout of surprise.

The blackness surrounding the boulder vanished, but this time Robin was there was a battle cry. He flew by the boulder, and Danny was just able to see him attach some kind of device before he was being knocked down by the other boy, hitting the ground with barely a second to spare as the boulder atop them exploded.

Danny was quick to push Robin out of the way, realizing in a split second what the other boy had done and was doing now. Robin had exploded the boulder and was planning to use his own body to shield Danny's, which was completely ridiculous because Danny needed no such protection. He knew that if Robin was concerned by taking care of him, the martial arts master would not avoid any hits even if he could. Danny couldn't allow that to happen.

Danny rolled, trying to get as far away from the raining debris as possible. Dust clogged his throat and lungs but he didn't pay it any heed, knowing that he couldn't afford to be focusing on anything but survival at the moment.

He was fighting something and no matter what the pain, he had to push through. Everything else was for afterwards.

Picking up a larger rock as he rolled, he suddenly stopped on his back and hurled it with all his might towards one of the pieces of debris falling towards him. It skimmed the side just as he had aimed, knocking the debris off course and allowing him the time to leap to his feet again, leading him out of his disadvantaged position.

It was only then, when he saw the giant rock monster fighting Raven, Beast Boy, and Starfire, that he remembered that he wasn't fighting ghosts. This wasn't even really his fight at all.

"What were you doing?!" Robin shouted as he landed in front of Danny, having flipped off someplace high and a look of fury on his face. His hair was stained grey with the plaster in the air.

"Cyborg!" Danny remembered. He glared fiercely at Robin, "Look, I'm not pleased about what you did either. But can we talk about this later? Cyborg needs our help."

Robin narrowed his eyes, but thankfully didn't argue further as he twisted his head and nodded towards an odd configuration of trucks which at second glance, Danny could see Cyborg's body resided within.

"And stay there," Robin said harshly, before jumping back into the fray with Raven and the others.

Danny had no intention of doing otherwise. Like he'd told himself when he first drove here and when he had gotten up, this wasn't his fight. Besides, he had little to offer them.

Still, as he raced towards the fallen figure of the mechanized hero, he couldn't help but for his eyes to stray to the other four Titans and the creature which they were battling.

And then he'd arrived, and all possible what-ifs were pushed out of his mind as he laid eyes on the fallen form of his friend.

"Stupid of you to come," Cyborg winced, "but man I'm glad you did. Otherwise I'd miss out on all them action you know?"

Danny smiled weakly. Cyborg's body was completely shut down past his neck, the glows and beeps which Danny had grown accustomed to over the weeks having disappeared entirely. "Tell me about it. I'm pretty sure Robin's going to skin me alive when we're done with this. Or force me into one of his outfits. Not sure which is worse."

Cyborg let out a choked laugh, "Dan my man, you don't know Robin yet. He can think of torture beyond all humanly imagination."

Cyborg proceeded to guide Danny through the regular procedures on how to get him up and running again. Danny was terrified he'd mess it up and short circuit his friend forever, but Cyborg assured him that he was doing fine. Better than most would, in fact.

Danny supposed that it came from years of helping his parents with their experiments. He'd wished then that his parents had done more normal things with him, like teach him some football, but he couldn't be more glad for the skills now.

He somehow managed to finish in fifteen minutes, though it felt like a lifetime. But all through it he was very much aware of the shouts and sounds of battle outside of the strange makeshift contraption that was Cyborg's shelter, and the cries of pain by the other Titans.

Finally he was done, and Cyborg was standing reinstated and re-energized.

"Boo-yah!" Cyborg grinned as he charged up his arm cannon again. He looked down at Danny with a wink, "I'll be right back. Just gotta go finish up this fight."

And then he was gone, leaving Danny alone and useless again.

With Cyborg back, the Titans seemed to get their morale back. Something clicked again and despite the fact that the rock monster had to be bigger than all of them combined and then some, it suddenly seemed very very small.

If there was one thing about the Titans, it was that they always did better the second time around. And they did not disappoint this time.

The rock monster was put down within five minutes.

"Who rocks or who rocks?" Beast Boy grinned as he transformed his arms into gorilla ones and then proceeded to show off his muscles. "It's us, oh yeah! Hey did you guys get that? Who _rocks_?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Raven muttered as she floated down to the ground again, her feet softly touching upon the ruined pavement.

Robin also touched upon the floor, having been on top of the rock monster to bring it down. He however, didn't stop to exchange post battle congratulatory remarks with the others. Instead, he was marching furiously towards Danny.

Someone else beat him to Danny however.

Out of nowhere it seemed, the TV crew that Danny had been watching earlier slid in, effectively blocking the livid Robin from Danny's sight. They were jabbering with excitement, their voices almost crowding over each other.

"Who are you? Are you a superhero? What were your superpowers? Why were you here? Do you have a girlfriend? Have you just joined our _Titans_?"

Danny only blinked at the flashing cameras, "Huh?"

* * *

A/n: Some people did have questions about this so I'm not entirely sure if I've mentioned it (thought I had, but maybe that was just in my head) - but Danny has forbidden himself from using his powers, hence why he didn't just own the people who were trying to mug him. He's afraid that since he is essentially Dan Phantom, he won't know when using powers will become abusing powers, so he's abstaining entirely. Remember that his biggest worry right now is turning evil. I personally don't think Danny is the type of character who would think about that every single second, but his subconscious definitely takes it into account.


	5. Skid

A/n: For everyone who read this last week, it's the same chapter. I just never got an email alert so I assumed a lot of you guys didn't either, and reposted.

* * *

**Skid**

They somehow managed to finally convince the media to let them go. Robin was usually the one to deal with the cameras, but he was far from the mood this time. Beast Boy did attempt to tell the TV crew how awesome he was, but thankfully Raven dragged him off before he could really reveal anything about Danny.

All the media got before Robin dragged them all back to Titan Tower was that Danny was not a part of the Titans nor did he have superpowers.

"Though you totally could be," Beast Boy said to Danny on the way back, "part of the Titans I mean. You were wicked today. I mean, it had to have taken a lot of courage to do what you did, and I totally dig that. You could be like Robin. He doesn't have any superpowers either and he can kick anyone's ass 'cept mine."

"Beast Boy!" Robin snapped, "There's a big difference between someone who has a degree in karate and me. Don't fill Danny's head with nonsense like that. It'll get him killed!"

Beast Boy shut up immediately, but that didn't stop him from poking his tongue out at Robin when the green clad boy's back was turned. The green superhero gave Danny an apologetic shrug and winked, as if to tell Danny that he didn't agree with their leader on this one.

Danny smiled weakly back. On some level he resented being called pretty much useless, but a much larger, more predominant part of him understood what Robin was saying. Danny had been an avid reader of the Titan's exploits ever since they had formed, and the one he had admired most had always been Robin.

Superpowers were amazing, but how much more amazing was it for someone to stand equal to a group of metahumans without any enhancements? It was like seeing someone win a marathon against Olympic runners in a wheelchair. It was that kind of miracle.

Before that fateful accident with the Fenton Ghost Portal, Danny had always dreamed that he could be someone like Robin one day.

So he understood where their red and green clad leader was coming from. Robin was one of a kind. Without knowing about Danny's healing abilities, it only made sense that he'd be concerned.

The rest of the team seemed to understand that Danny and Robin needed some space after they arrived back at Titan Tower. They quickly made to vacate the living room, leaving the wide open space for Robin to do with as he pleased.

The only one who didn't pick up on the undercurrents of an unfinished conversation was Starfire. Thankfully (or maybe not so thankfully for Danny), Raven was quick to drag her off with murmurs of needing to be somewhere.

"Don't be too hard on him," Cyborg muttered to Robin as he brushed past. Danny thought he only heard it due to his enhanced senses. "He did save our asses today."

Robin nodded, but his expression did not change. It was completely unreadable.

"Good luck," Raven mouthed to him, before she too disappeared into the hallways.

Danny swallowed and nodded, before turning back to the leader of the Titans. He had an idea of what was to come.

"Danny," Robin began, "what you did today…"

"I know," Danny whispered. "I abused your trust. I mean you guys have been so nice to me letting me stay at your tower and I go and highjack your motorbike anyway. I really am sorry about that. Just give me some time to pack my things?"

Something akin to surprise flickered across Robin's face, "What? What are you talking about?"

Now it was Danny's time to be surprised, "Wait hang on, you mean you're not thinking of kicking me out of Titan Tower?"

"No!" Robin looked genuinely astounded, "What would make you—no, Danny I came to talk about the _stupid_ and _reckless_ action that you took today. You could have gotten seriously hurt, and who do you think that'd be on, huh?! I was the one who allowed you into the tower. I was the one who didn't lock up my communication system. Heck, I was the one who left extra motorcycles out for anyone to take!"

Oh.

And quite suddenly, Danny understood.

He felt guilt flood him.

The thought actually hadn't occurred to him. He had a healing factor that was a lot faster than it was before and honestly he doubted anything short of the Fright Knight could actually hurt him permanently. But he couldn't tell Robin that.

"I—I didn't—" he began, only to stop and take a breath. He began again, "Look Robin, none of this was your fault. It was all my choice."

He knew he wasn't a hero, but he couldn't just stand by and do nothing either. It'd honestly been an instinctual reaction.

Robin's lips twisted, "I know that. But it's our job to protect people like you. It's not your job to watch out for us. You and I are similar that way. Raven has told me that I ignore my limits, and it's evident from today that you're the same. So I understand, I really do. But, us Titans are so much more better equipped to dealing with situations like these. You don't have the tools and you have a ridiculously high chance of ending up dead. We don't want to lose a friend. Do you understand that?"

Danny swallowed. What could he say to that? He couldn't even accuse Robin of the whole jumping in front of the boulder thing. Robin had just pretty much explained it.

He ran a hand through his hair, wishing that they were anywhere else. He knew that this conversation needed to be had and had expected it as soon as he had turned on the communicator, but that didn't make this any easier.

He'd never been much good with words. That was always Jazz's forte.

"I didn't want to lose anyone either," Danny said, closing his eyes. He saw his sister's face so clearly she might as well have been standing beside him. "Look I—I know you guys can handle yourselves, and that's why I didn't get involved in the fight see? But even though I don't have to 'tools' to fight the same enemies as you do, there was one thing I could have done back there to help. What kind of person would I be if I ignored it?"

"Probably not our friend," Robin sighed. "Just—don't do it again?"

Danny's lips twitched, "Can't promise that."

"Oh but I can," Robin smirked, the tension between them draining out entirely, "Cyborg is going to get the lecture of the century regarding the upkeep of his batteries."

They shared a grin.

Danny went to bed that night warm and content. He was tired, as were they all. The fight had taken more out of the Titans then they admitted to him, and all of them collapsed as soon as they were able. Although Danny hadn't really participated in the fight himself, there had been more than enough adrenaline rushing through his veins to send his body crashing when night came. He got one of the deepest sleeps he had in a long time.

So it was a surprise when he woke in the middle of the night shivering and feeling apprehensive.

"Why am I awake?" he groaned, still feeling dead tired even as his eyes fluttered open. He froze when he saw his breath. It was visible.

Titan Tower was still its nice room temperature.

Danny quickly threw himself off the couch, rolling to the floor with his blanket still wrapped around him. And just in time too, because a second later some sort of cage fell on top of the couch. The air above shimmered, and an all too familiar metal clad ghost appeared.

"Skulker," Danny hissed, moving to a standing position as he dislodged the blanket. He had a table to his back, preventing him from stepping away further. Habit guided him.

There was a look of annoyance on Skulker's face, "Irritatingly evasive as always I see." He raised his arm, something akin to a cannon rising from his armour.

Danny cursed as his hands found purchase on the table and he quickly flipped himself over it. Green ecto energy blasted forth from Skulker's cannon, incinerating the spot he'd been in just moments before.

"Whoops," Skulker grinned, showing all teeth, "that might have been a little over the top. Plasmius wouldn't be pleased if I brought you back in pieces."

"Plasmius?" Danny's mind was racing as he scanned the room for anything he could use against the hunter ghost. "What's Vlad got to do with this?"

"He is the one who commissioned me to bring you back," Skulker said, casually exchanging the cannon on his arm, "and he is the one who found out where you have been hiding. Something about a television and news? You must have really displeased him this time ghost child."

It was then that Danny's eyes alighted upon it. It was his bag, filled to the brim with ghost weapons. Fortunately it was zipped up so Skulker had no idea what was in it, and if Danny played it right, the hunter ghost wouldn't know until it was too late. Unfortunately it was on the other side of the room, and consequently he had to pass Skulker to get to it.

"I'm not going with you," Danny said, scooting back subtly. He wanted to lead Skulker away from that couch, and hopefully the hunter ghost would subconsciously follow him. "And why does Plasmius want me anyway? He has to know that I'm—that I no longer—"

He almost couldn't say it. Making the decision back at the hospital had made so much sense, but standing here, in front of Skulker, it'd turned into something difficult to admit. He felt almost ashamed of abandoning Danny Phantom even though he knew it was the only way.

"The reasons," Skulker said, raising his new cannon, "do not matter to me. Prepare yourself, ghost child!"

Energy built up and Danny barely had time to gasp before he had to fling himself to the side. This time Skulker's blast hit the TV, shattering the screen and making a large dent in the plastic.

"Okay I heard of mirrors breaking, but I've never seen that," Danny quipped before he could help himself. "Your ugly mug must be something else."

And then his eyes widened, because he hadn't really meant to say that and insult the hunter ghost, but the words had come automatically. Once again he cursed himself for his run away mouth. He didn't mind trading barbs, but even he knew it wasn't a smart thing to do when the one insulting had no weapons on him.

Skulker roared as his shoulder pads came up, revealing rows on rows of miniature torpedoes. Danny knew he didn't have much time.

He quickly kicked out the leg of the table he had been standing behind, causing one end to crash to the floor. Not wasting any time he dashed up the tilted surface, just in time to see Skulker's eyes widen in surprise before he leapt towards the hunter ghost.

The torpedoes went off, and Danny just barely managed to avoid them in his jump. He flipped over Skulker's head, landing on the other side of the couch. Not pausing for a moment Danny dashed towards his bag of ghost weapons.

He'd just reached them when Skulker's beam hit. The force was so powerful that it threw Danny halfway across the room, the bag flying the other way.

"No!" Danny shouted, reaching out a hand towards the direction of his weaponry. Grunting Danny struggled to get up, only to let out a sharp gasp of pain as his leg protested. He must have landed on it wrong.

"You don't think I'd let you take the chance of turning things around, did you ghost child?" Skulker sneered, his torpedoes reloading, "This is the end."

Danny knew he had to move, but the pain in his leg nearly paralyzed him. He'd never be able to move fast enough to avoid everything Skulker threw at him.

And then Skulker fired.

"AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS!"

The torpedoes stopped inches from Danny's face, held in place by writhing black energy.

It was then that Danny remembered that he didn't live alone here.

He and Skulker whirled at the same time to the direction the voice had come from. Raven emerged from the hallway, her arms stretched out in front of her as she slowly walked towards them.

"Who are you?" Skulker demanded.

"Raven," Danny sighed in relief.

"What is going on here?" The violet clad Titan asked in a low tone of voice, "I sensed something so I came to investigate, but I never expected _this_."

"Hmph," Skulker sneered, "your power is unique. Perhaps I will add your head to my collection."

Danny winced. He hadn't meant to bring any of his new friends to the attention of the ghosts.

A look of disgust spread across Raven's face as she lowered her arms, and the black mist surrounding the torpedoes disappeared. The torpedoes clattered to the ground, useless.

"I suppose that answers my question," she said, crossing her arms and looking at Skulker like an insect, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos."

Black energy hurled towards the hunter ghost. Skulker merely grinned as his form shimmered, and Danny knew that he had gone intangible. Danny opened his mouth to shout out a warning to Raven, but he was beat to it.

"That won't—" Skulker began to boast, but then the black energy actually hit him.

Skulker let out a pained grunt as he went flying back, hit hard with Raven's magic. The look of sheer surprise on his face might have been amusing if it weren't for the fact that Danny was feeling an equal amount of shock.

Intangibility should have worked in avoiding the attack.

Then again, intangibility never really worked against ghost rays either, and maybe that was the same concept here.

Skulker snarled and a moment later a variety of different bullets shot towards Raven. Raven lifted her hands up, blocking the attack. They continued along the same vein for a while, with Skulker using every weapon in his arsenal, and Raven sending any object she could get her magic into Skulker's way. It wasn't until Skulker readied one of his arm machine guns and found it to be out of bullets that the dynamic changed.

Really, the advantage should have gone to Raven, but Skulker was intelligent and while he could become caught up in the challenge, he also knew how to put objectives first.

"Looks like," Skulker said, lowering his arm with the empty gun, "the time for fun and games is over."

Raven narrowed her eyes, "What—"

The plates on Skulker's shoulders lifted, revealing two sets of torpedoes. One was fixated on Raven, but the other had rotated to the boy who had timed out near the beginning of the fight. Danny's eyes widened as he realized that the second set was aimed towards him, but before he had time to properly react, they were fired.

Raven however did react. Hurriedly she flung up her arm, stretching a hand towards Danny.

Instantly black magic covered his vision, and Danny felt more than saw the torpedoes burst against the wall Raven had constructed to protect him. Another instant later and it was gone, the missiles that had been centered on him falling harmlessly to the ground.

Raven wasn't so lucky. She'd concentrating on shielding Danny, whom she thought was defenseless, and that left her without protection. Raven let out a oomph as the torpedoes Skulker sent at her hit full force, sending her flying back and crashing into the kitchen counter. Dishes and silverware alike fell down onto her.

As Raven struggled to get up again, Skulker readied his heavier cannon. Danny realized with horror that it was the one that had disintegrated part of the floor. While Skulker might need Danny alive for Vlad, there was no such guarantee for Raven.

Danny started forward, but he was too late. Skulker's weapon fired, the deadly beam of plasma headed directly towards a downed Raven.

"No!" Danny cried.

It was just then that green energy bolts appeared out of seemingly nowhere, intercepting the energy blast and detonating the whole thing mid way. It set off a small explosion, covering the rooms in smoke. When the smoke cleared, Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, and Beast Boy were suddenly there.

"How dare you hurt Friend Raven," Starfire growled, her voice guttural as she floated menacingly in the air, her hands alight with fresh starbolts.

"Titans," Robin said grimly, "GO!"

Skulker seemed to realize he couldn't take on a whole team. He floated backwards, retreating.

"So you've found yourself some allies, ghost child," Skulker sneered, gazing directly at Danny. "Well, you won't be so lucky next time!"

And then, before any of them could do anything, Skulker had faded through the window and shimmered into invisibility. Cyborg's mouth dropped open, and he quickly lifted his arm and began to punch in code to his sensors.

"Man," Beast Boy complained, "that's as cheesy of a bad guy line as you're going to get."

The power behind Starfire slowly dissipated as she floated back to the ground, a frown on her face, "Should we not be doing the chasing after?"

"Oh I want to," Robin scowled after the departed figure of Skulker. "Nobody invades our home and gets away with it." And then he shook his head, turning back to the kitchens, "But more importantly…"

Raven groaned as she struggled to get out of the mess of silverware, "I'm fine, really. You should go after him."

"It's no good anyway," Cyborg cut in, his eyes still fixed on the screen on his arm, "I've got nothing. He's long gone."

"Who was he?" Robin frowned. Now that he was assured his teammate was alright, it seemed as if he'd gone back to detective mode. The red and green clad leader turned to Danny, his eyes narrowing, "He seemed to know you."

Danny swallowed. He knew there was no getting out of this one. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to.

He'd caused the Titans to be in danger after all. Skulker had made it evident that he was only here for Danny, and if what the hunter ghost said was correct, then Plasmius would soon be sending others after him. He could always count on Vlad to be obsessive.

"Yea—yeah," Danny said shakily, pushing himself to his feet. His left leg wobbled, but it held. "That was Skulker. He's a ghost, but not the friendly Casper kind. He's more like… I guess as far as his powers are concerned, he's like a metahuman. He has invisibility, intangibility, and the ability to shoot off energy bolts not unlike Starfire, but I think it's less powerful."

"And he was after you?" There was a question in Robin's voice, and a suspicion that had never been there before. "What did he mean when he called you 'ghost child'?"

Danny closed his eyes. He wanted, more than anything, to answer truthfully. The Titans deserved that. But at the same time, how could he bring himself to do it? They'd ask too many questions that he wasn't prepared to answer.

His eyes opened but he couldn't look any of them in the face. "My parents… were ghost hunters. I thought that this might all be over but—it seems like the ghosts haven't finished their business with me."

The whole room tensed.

Guilt rolled off Danny in waves. He knew what he was implying and that wasn't really what happened, but it was the closest to the truth as he could go.

"I'll just—I'll just go," he stuttered, taking a staggering step towards his bag. Unfortunately his leg wasn't so happy about actually moving, and Danny found himself cartwheeling as his leg collapsed and sent his body forward.

Robin moved instantly. He jumped over the couch, just managing to catch Danny before he fell. He righted the other boy, frowning at him, "Where are you going?"

"Thanks," Danny muttered, before shaking his head and glancing up at the Titans leader with a look of confusion, "I don't know, anywhere? Somewhere where there isn't any people, probably. The ghosts aren't really so perceptive about their surroundings, so they might accidentally end up hurting someone if I'm around them." He winced as he remembered Desiree. "Or even deliberately."

"Wait, you're thinking of leaving?" Robin's voice was disbelieving, "After you just found out that you have some powerful metas after you?"

"Well I can't involve you guys can I?" Danny frowned. "Look, I never would have come if I knew that they were still interested in me. I didn't mean to get you guys involved. I'm sorry for getting Raven hurt and I—I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I'm just sorry."

"We've already had this discussion Danny," Robin said tersely, "it's our job to protect people like you. Not your job to protect us."

"But this one is my fault."

"No, no it's not," Robin said firmly, taking a step forward and fixing him with a steady stare. "It's nobody's fault but that Skulker's. Who knows why villains think the way that they do? Stay here. We enjoy your company, and as you can see, we can take care of ourselves. There's no need to worry about us."

Danny hesitated. He didn't want to take advantage of the Titans like this. Not when they didn't even know what they were getting into.

But... these were the Titans, who could overcome anything. And it was true. Danny would be hard pressed to resist the ghosts for long. He might be able to fend off one or two, but he'd never been a true ghost hunter, not like his parents and not even like Jazz. He couldn't beat the ghosts without relying on his powers, and he couldn't use his powers because that'd bring him one step closer to the future he promised he'd never see happen.

And Danny could go to Vlad. He couldn't.

So instead of arguing, he simply bowed his head, surrendering, "Thank you."

* * *

"What do you think?" Robin asked long after the disaster with the hunter ghost, walking into Raven's room completely unannounced. Then again, he didn't need to announce himself, because Raven was expecting him.

"I am unsure," Raven said, opening her eyes. She had been sitting in a meditative position at the center of her floor, thinking, as Robin no doubt had, about the events of today. Danny had explained everything about ghosts to them afterwards, and Raven was still trying to wrap her head around it all.

Personally from what Danny had said, Raven thought that this 'ghost zone' was simply a different dimension, and therefore the 'ghosts' were not really the correct term as far as the citizens of earth were concerned. Then again, perhaps it was that dimension in the first place which had given earth its mythology regarding departed spirits. It was a thought worth looking into, but she knew it wasn't what Robin had come in for.

The door to Raven's room swung shut, concealing the two of them. "Cyborg said that the cameras are completely useless. The energy that this Skulker character gave off distorted them. We can't make out anything that happened before we got there."

"Is Danny's word not enough?" Danny had told them that Skulker had just exchanged some banter with him and outlined his reasons for being there before attacking. And then Raven had showed up and they knew the rest.

"Is it?" Robin asked. His tone was mild, but Raven was not fooled. She knew he suspected.

"Something about his explanation felt off," Raven intoned. "His emotions matched with his words, so I don't think he was lying but… but I felt like there is more to it? I'm not sure how to explain."

"I had hoped that it wouldn't be the case," Robin sighed. He hesitated, "Do you think… Terra?"

Raven frowned, looking down. She knew why Robin was asking. The whole incident with Terra had been a disaster, and none of them were bereft of blame save perhaps Beast Boy. Raven still felt guilty over it. Guilty for not noticing that Terra was different after she had come back. Guilty for being so suspicious in the first place and possibly pushing the other girl into the path she had chosen.

And then there was Robin. Robin felt responsible as the team leader, and it was obvious to her that it would kill him if something like the Terra episode happened again.

"No," she finally responded, shaking her head, "I don't feel that level of unease with Danny. He's showing no hint of fear about us at any rate."

"And he's not a meta," Robin mused, "though, I suppose, I of all people should know that's not as much of a hindrance as some would believe. I just—I really want to trust him, but…"

But how could he, when Jump City depended on his decisions? If it were only Robin who had the potential of getting hurt, Raven had no doubt that their fearless leader would give Danny the benefit of the doubt. But it wasn't just Robin.

"We could let him go," Raven suggested, though that was the last thing she wanted to do. Danny was pleasant to be around, and he loosened Robin up in a way that Raven could not. Robin was most relaxed around Starfire, but it wasn't the same. She suspected it was because Danny was so normal, and Robin more than anyone needed some normality in his life. Robin was after all, still a human in the end. "If his purpose here is less than amiable, then at least he won't have the security clearance for the Tower."

Robin shook his head, "We can't. If the ghosts are really after him and we let him go now, we'd just be leaving him unprotected. Danny's a good kid, and even if he got himself into some trouble, we can't abandon him now."

"So then… it's just keeping an eye on him?"

"And find out what he's been keeping from us, yes. I didn't push it today but perhaps I should have. I was thinking, maybe we could devise a test of some sort that would—"

But before Robin could inform Raven of what kind of test he'd been considering, his communicator went off. And only his.

Brows furrowing, Robin dug out the communication device and flipped it open. No voice came crackling out, so Raven knew that whatever information had been sent out, it was in email form. That had to mean that the information was too extensive to send over airwaves.

Robin held a slight frown as he read through the information, and it only grew the more he read. Normally Raven would have left Robin to it, but then the punch of shock and tension hit her. Her head snapped up to meet Robin's, but he was still solely concentrated on whatever he was reading. Still, it was obvious from the emotions that Raven felt from him that he was not well.

And then Raven realized that she didn't even need to feel his emotions to see that something was straining him. His face held a pinched expression, and while his mask hid his eyes, there was no mistaking the twist of his lips. His whole body radiated tension.

She knew then that something was deeply wrong. Robin felt much more than the general public thought, and he was often conflicted about his decisions, but rarely did he allow them to take over his body like this.

"Robin," Raven said quietly, "what is it?"

"He's back," Robin said, his voice strangely blank as he snapped closed his communicator. "He's been spotted at Cyan Labs."

"Who?" Raven asked, although a wave of apprehension told her that she wouldn't like the answer.

The next words that came out of Robin's mouth had Raven wiping all thoughts of her suspicions regarding Danny from her mind. There was simply no more time for it.

_Slade._


End file.
